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,. 






THE 



SCIENCE OF EDUCATION; 



PHILOSOPHY OF HUMAN CULTURE. 



it 



BY 



JOHN OGDEN, A.M. 

Author of "Art of Teaching," "Outlines of Pedagogical Science," etc, 



^VYf-GHr %■ S'" 



(i jlo-.JSA 







1879. .# 7 



VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO. 

CINCINNATI AND NEW YORK. 



IV PREFACE. 

quate reform can be effected), we, with the dangers and diffi- 
culties, to which they are exposed, constantly before our eyes, 
have prepared the following pages. To awaken a proper sense 
of responsibility and duty in such, and to give them a knowl- 
edge of those technical details so necessary to their success and 
usefulness, are the specific objects of this book. 

We have not the vanity to suppose, however, that we are an 
oracle to the profession ; nor have we the ambition to become 
one; neither have we the presumption to dictate special modes, 
nor to offer our plans to the exclusion of all others. This would 
be traveling out of the line of policy, as well as of good sense. 
It would be downright empiricism. But we have endeavored 
so to present the whole subject of Human Culture, and so to 
lay open and enforce the principles of right Education and 
Teaching, that the humblest may understand ; so that by a 
careful study of these principles, every teacher and parent may 
be able rather to build up his own system, and exercise his own 
judgment in the special application of them, than to adopt, 
entirely, the measures of another; for any one can see that to 
attempt to develop the Teaching Talent by cumbering it with 
the real or supposed excellencies of special methods exclu- 
sively, would be like prescribing special modes of treatment for 
the cure of all diseases, irrespective of their character or the 
constitutional peculiarities of the patient. This would be em- 
piricism indeed; since it would deny the privilege of individ- 
ual judgment, investigation and discovery. So, to palm off 
upon teachers as qualifications, the plans and specialities (and 
too frequently the errors and whims) that may have been suc- 
cessful in the hands of others, without developing native ability, 



PREFACE. V 

would tend only to circumscribe the limits of improvement, and 
to cripple individual talent and enterprise. And on the other 
hand, to discuss general theories, and to enlarge upon the im- 
portance and advantage of Education, without reducing the 
theories to practice, would be equally objectionable. 

We have tried to guard carefully against these two extremes; 
and we entertain the hope that the merits of the subjects pre- 
sented, aside from the manner in which they are treated, will 
be a sufficient passport to public favor. With this hope, and 
claiming only that indulgence which is the common right of 
mortals, and which we know a courteous public will grant, we 
present this book to the candid consideration of Teachers and 
friends of Education. 

Cincinnati, July, 1879. 



CONTENTS 



Page, 

CHAPTEK FIRST— INTRODUCTION. 9 

Nature and Design of the Plan 9 



CHAPTEK SECOND— EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY 27 

Article I. Objective Period 27 

Article II. Transition Period 37 

Article III. Subjective Period 43 

CHAPTER THIRD— EDUCATIONAL FORCES 49 

Article I. Objective Period ., 51 

Article II. Transition Period 67 

Article III. Subjective Period. 80 

CHAPTER FOURTH— EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES 87 

Article I. Objective Period 88 

Article II. Transition Period 97 

Article III. Subjective Period 106 

CHAPTER FIFTH— PHYSICAL EDUCATION 117 

Article I. Hand Culture 122 

Article II. Excursion and Labor 133 

Article III. Gymnastics 141 

(vi) 



CONTENTS. VII 

Page. 

CHAPTER SIXTH— INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION 155 

Article I. Observation and Experiment 159 

Article II. Language and Description. 168 

Article III. Investigation and Generalization 172 

CHAPTER SEVENTH— MORALAND RELIGIOUS EDU- 
CATION 183 

Article I. The Affections 188 

Article II. The Conscience 221 

Article III. The Will 228 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



( DISCURSIVE. 
THEORETICAL. 
A SCIENCE. 



SYNOPSIS 


I. 






( 


Objective. 


' Physical. 

Intellectual. 
[ Moral. 


C Capacity and 

j SUSCEPTIBILITY. * 




Transition. 


' Physical. 

Intellectual. 
1 Moral. 






Subjective. < 


Physical. 
Intellectual. 






Moral. 




r 


Objective. « 


Physical. 

Intellectual. 

Moral. 


Forces and in- 
strumentalities "* 




Transition. * 


Physical. 

Intellectual. 

Moral. 




< 


Subjective. ■ 


Physical. 

Intellectual 

Moral 






Objective. ■ 


Physical. 

Intellectual. 

Moral. 


Processes and < 

^ MODES. 




Transition. • 


Physical. 
Intellectual, 






Moral 






Subjective. 


Physical. 

Intellectual 
Moral. 



DIDACTIC. 
PRACTICAL 
AN ART. 



Home duties. 



School-room 
duties. 



Miscellaneous J 
duttes. 1 



Labor. 

Recr 

Best. 



Prolyninaries. 

Study. 

Recitation. 

Business. 

Recreation. 

Government. 



SCIENCE OF EDUCATION 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The Science of Education is based upon immutable 
principles ; and, so far as these principles relate to hu- 
man beings, they are no less established than when they 
relate to other beings. They exist in the very nature 
of things, and are co-extensive with man's existence. 

The Philosophy of Education is therefore the philos- 
ophy of man. The Science of Human Culture is 
that which relates to his nature, laws of growth, and 
modes of treatment. 

Man is created with Educational Susceptibility ', with 
the undeveloped or latent capacity to know and to do. 
His powers of feeling and motion, at birth, though in 
a feeble state, are, nevertheless, more perfect than those 
of knowing, willing and doing. His sentient organism 
constitutes the medium through which, in their nascent 
state, these faculties of the mind are reached. 

Now, these knowing and doing capacities — for they 
can scarcely be called powers at this stage of their 
growth — w T ould for ever remain in an undeveloped 
state, were either the avenues leading to them closed, 
or were there no instrumentalities employed to reach 
down to them, to excite them to activity, and to bring 
them out. 
(ix) 



10 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

This presupposes Educational Instrumentalities or 
Forces, as well as educational capacity, which, in 
their nature and constitution, must be adapted to the 
educational susceptibility, or want. These, again, must 
be brought in contact with the faculties, in order to 
excite them to activity and develop them. For, if man 
possess, originally, educational capacity undeveloped, 
it would be unwise, if not wicked, to suppose there 
are no instrumentalities or forces suited to these wants. 
But on the contrary, for every educational want there 
is an educational supply precisely suited to that want. 
To argue the opposite of this proposition, would not 
only lead to infidelity, but would charge God with 
folly in bringing human beings into the world, with 
educational wants to torment them, and a capacity to 
mock them. 

The bringing out, the developing and cultivation 
of these faculties, presuppose Modes or Processes; for 
it would be equally unwise to suppose — there being 
latent capacity, and forces suited to its development — 
that there were no right and certain modes or proc- 
esses, by which these educational instrumentalities 
could be applied to the educational susceptibilities. It 
would be just as unwise as to suppose that God had 
created seeds for growth, and a soil every way suited 
to nourish them, and yet had made it impossible that 
the two should be brought in contact. 

There are, therefore, educational susceptibilities or 
capacities ; and suited to the exact nature of these, there 
are educational instrumentalities or forces ; and super- 
added to these, there are certain and right modes .or 
processes of applying these forces to the capacities : and 
these plain truths shall constitute the basis of the 
theoretical part of this work. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

To render this matter plain, we assume the following 
propositions : 1. That there is no necessary antagonism 
existing between the educational capacities and their appro- 
priate forces or supplies, judiciously administered — except 
that induced by disease or disordered growth. 2. That 
all true modes of education proceed in exact harmony with 
the nature, design and growth of man's faculties, intellect- 
ual, physical and moral. 3. That God has not only made 
it possible for us to understand the true modes of educa- 
tion, but that he has made it necessary, and absolutely im- 
perative. Me requires this at our hands. 

In reference to the first we remark, that this is true 
in an intellectual and moral sense, no less than in a 
physical. The hungry body does not loathe the food 
that nourishes it : neither does the hungry mind loathe 
knowledge, or the food that nourishes it : nor yet does 
the soul abhor the love, the sympathy, the sweet affec- 
tions that cherish the # moral and religious nature; un- 
less one or all of those departments of our being are 
laboring under the influence of disease. And here we 
wish to be understood that diseases exist every- where 
within the dominion of sin ; and that it is the duty and 
peculiar province of education to alleviate and remove 
them. There are, therefore, intellectual and moral dis- 
eases, as well as those of a purely physical character. 
The disordered state of one department of our being 
often induces disorder in the others. And, on the other 
hand, the healthy condition of the one promotes the 
health and growth of all the others. These diseases 
may be considered either as constitutional, chronic, 
acute or recent in their origin and formation. Indeed, 
we may conclude that they are all, to a great extent, 
of the first class ; since sin has so corrupted our entire 
rare, that the whole being, physical, intellectual aucl 



12 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

moral, is tainted, to a greater or less extent, with the 
corruptions peculiar to each ; and so deep-seated have 
become these complaints, that nothing short of Divine 
agencies, co-operating, it may be, with the human, can 
avail for their removal. What we mean, therefore, is 
that this depravity— for by this name it is best known 
— or this disease, is either aggravated or abated accord- 
i. g as the causes or influences operating have been bad 
or good, — whether we consider these as having oper- 
ated in the past, or as still operating in the present, 
generations of men. And now it becomes a matter of 
the gravest importance, a question of most startling 
significance : can these diseases be removed or allevi- 
ated by any means, human or Divine, or by both of 
these agencies combined ? We infer, as before inti- 
mated, that they can, since they admit of increase and 
decrease. The causes of difficulty removed, and a 
class of opposite influences at work, would surely pro- 
duce opposite results. The steps by which we have 
descended to our present depth, retraced, would surely 
bring us back to the point whence we started, provided 
the nature of our offense did not render it impossible. 
This, we apprehend, is the case, so far, at least, as ab- 
solute perfection is concerned. But we have un- 
bounded faith in the efficacy of the remedial agents, 
provided by the merciful Being who first gave us our 
powers, and commanded us to keep and perpetuate 
them. But since man failed to do this, through a 
greater than creative kindness, the same Being has 
provided a ransom in the atonement, so ample as to 
reach to the lowest depths of his depravity, renovating 
his moral nature, healing his moral disease, and there- 
by rendering it possible, at least, by a course of edu- 
cation and discipline, by obedience to the laws of his 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

being, and a strict observance of the laws of God, to 
retrace those steps, and regain, if not a primitive and 
absolute state of perfection, at least, to attain to the 
sublimest hights of human excellence. 

Education, therefore, in its largest sense, proposes, 
the alleviation and removal of those diseases, so tar, at 
least, as human instrumentality can be efficient in so 
difficult a case. And while we claim for it, only that, 
it is human, and therefore subject to error, neverthe- 
less, it should always so co-operate with Divine agen- 
cies as to produce the results anticipated. To inquire 
earnestly after this way, to learn the real nature and 
importance of a true education, and to enforce its claims 
to the highest possible place in human consideration, 
shall be our present object. 

Our second proposition is, that all true modes of edu- 
cation proceed in exact harmony with the nature, design and 
growth of man's faculties, etc. The correctness of this 
position will at once be admitted; for, to admit its 
opposite, would be to admit the establishment of dis- 
cord instead of harmony in the works of the Creator. 
At no stage of growth, should the educational forces 
and processes interfere with the natural order of de- 
velopment. This would be no less disastrous here than 
would any interference with the natural conditions, 
supplies, and laws of growth, in the vegetable world. 
All true methods of educating man, therefore, must be 
based upon sound philosophy; for if education, as 
such, has any claims to the dignified title of Science, its 
operations must proceed in harmony with the nature, 
design, and laws of growth pertaining to the subject of 
such education, and in accordance with the principles 
involved in such science. And then it follows, as a 
matter of necessity, that those principles and processes 



14 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

are susceptible of classification and arrangement, or 
else education is no science : for without these condi- 
tions no science can exist. And then again, if these 
principles and processes can be thus classified and ar- 
ranged, they can be studied and mastered ; and if they 
can be classified, arranged, studied and mastered, they 
can be applied in the education of every human being — 
not beyond the reach of education — just as definitely, 
though, perhaps, not with as certain results, as the 
principles and processes of chemistry and mathematics 
are studied and applied in agriculture and the arts. 
And, surely, the claims of this science upon our con- 
sideration are as urgent as any other, if we consider 
the character, the value of the materials, and the 
agents with which it proposes to operate. 

The agriculturist, for instance, can afford to make a 
mistake in raising a crop; so can the mechanic, in 
building a ship or a house; for these appertain only 
to the grosser interests and perishable substances. 
The painter can afford to make a mistake in mingling 
his colors, or in giving form and expression to the 
features of his picture ; or he can afford to see it blur- 
red and marred, and even rent asunder by unskilled 
or wicked hands ; for, in such case, the only loss is the 
waste of material and labor, and, perchance, his hopes 
of gain. The sculptor can afford to see his beautiful 
figure, upon which he has spent years of anxious toil, 
shattered to atoms in his presence, or sunk to the bottom 
of the ocean. The loss might be more than compen- 
sated by reproduction. But who will undertake to 
compensate for the loss of a human being, freighted 
with a deathless cargo of eternal interests? Who will 
undertake to repair the damages done to an immortal 
spirit? Who will undertake to remove the blurs and 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 

stains from the face of human character, or to stop the 
influences involved in error? The agriculturist, the 
artist, and all material workers can well afford to make 
mistakes; but in educating boys and girls, in forming 
habits and molding character, in giving direction to 
the energies of immortal minds, in rearing and train- 
ing human beings for their duties and responsibilities 
here, and tlieir destiny hereafter, we can not afford to 
make mistakes. These are more costly and enduring 
than the senseless stone, or the inanimate clod. The 
influences evolved, too, are of a more enduring nature; 
for the mistakes or the master-strokes here, unlike 
those upon the canvas or the marble, perpetuate them- 
selves, and operate on other beings to all eternity. If 
then it becomes necessary that the agriculturist and 
the artist have knowledge of the character of their 
materials, and skill to manage them ; if it becomes 
uecessary that they have rules and definite methods by 
which to make application of the principles of their 
peculiar sciences ; much more does this necessity 
increase, when we come to apply the same principle to 
that most difficult and enduring, that most artistic of 
all arts, the art of educating human beings. 

The question seems to be settled therefore, as to the 
importance and necessity both of accurate and exten- 
sive knowledge upon these subjects, and of rules by 
which to be guided in the applications. The possibil- 
ity of such rules seems the only point now. 

Our third proposition reads as follows: That God 
has not only made it possible for us to understand the true 
modes of education, but that he has made it necessary, ab- 
solutely imperative. 

We are at liberty, here, to draw the following con- 
clusions: 1. That God requires us to do nothing but 



16 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

what is right. Wrong is opposed to right, is the off- 
shoot of evil, and therefore can not be included. He has 
commanded us further, or at least given us as a sacred 
precept, " To train up a child in the way he should go." 
This is right, and,because it is thus given, it is obliga- 
tory. It, of course, presupposes knowledge of that 
way, and skill to direct others in it. 2. He does not 
require of us any impossibilities ; or, in general, what 
is necessary for the accomplishment of any good pur- 
pose's possible. Right modes of education are neces- 
sary, and therefore possible. This is conclusive. God 
has not created a single necessity, in all his dominions, 
without, at least, indicating the mode of supply ; and 
we go still further and say, that there is not a single 
evil existing under the sun but what has its appropri- 
ate remedy, though it may possibly be beyond the 
reach of man. To suppose the contrary w T ould be to 
admit that God has been defeated in establishing the 
order of creation and providence. So that we shall be 
safe in concluding that whatever is right or necessary, 
is possible ; and further, that there is both a necessity 
here and a possibility of supplying it. 

The investigation now turns upon the nature and 
extent of our knowledge, and the characteristics of 
those principles, rules and modes of application best 
adapted to produce the required results. 

It will be readily granted, we think, that this knowl- 
edge must be peculiar ; that it must reach beyond the 
mere range of scholastic attainments; that no knowl- 
edge, however perfect, relating to mere common sub- 
jects, will be of any further utility here than as a mere 
instrument by which the education of the individual 
may be promoted. Hence, the popular idea of educa- 
tion appears to be erroneous, so far, at least, as it makes 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

education consist in the mere acquisition of knowledge, 
without any reference to its uses as a means of accom- 
plishing the end ; for a man is not thoroughly edu- 
cated until he knows how to educate other men. 
" v Man's education, therefore, consists in the ability he 
acquires to use his powers of thinking, willing and 
doing ; and the chief uses of knowledge, aside from the 
enlarged scope it gives to these powers, is so to disci- 
pline, subdue and strengthen them, as that they may be 
able, both to control their own energies, and to operate 
with due force upon surrounding objects. .!No mere 
amount of knowledge, therefore, can compensate for 
the want of discipline and vigor, which constitute the 
sole object and the end of education. But the mere 
acquisition is best accomplished at the same time, and 
in connection with the best discipline ; so that in true 
education, the two processes mutually aid each other. 
" The proper study of mankind is man." To the 
educator, no knowledge is so important as self-knowl- 
edge, or that which relates to man and his education. 
It ranks highest, both as it relates to discipline and to 
its utility in the education of others. Indeed it is the 
" Scientia Scientiarum" since it relates to all sciences, 
and teaches their proper uses. In this sense, it is to 
him, though more general in its character, and intrin- 
sic in its merits, what diagnostics and therapeutics are 
to the physician. Without this knowledge, the teach- 
er would be fitly represented by an individual having 
a large collection of drugs and medicines, yet ignorant 
of their effect upon the human system. He would be 
unable to wield his instrumentalities skillfully in the 
accomplishment of the purposes for which they were 
intended. 

But the educator should, above ah other artists, know 
2 



18 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the nature and capacity of the powers, intellectual, 
physical, and moral, with which he proposes to oper- 
ate. He should acquaint himself with this wonder- 
working machine, whose secret springs of thought 
and motion lie hidden from the eye of the casual 
observer; and whose products outvie the costliest fab- 
rics of human art. He should not only familiarize 
himself with their nature, capacity, and laws of growth, 
but, as far as possible, with their antecedent influences ; 
that he may judge with greater clearness and accuracy 
in the selection of means and modes to be employed 
in their subsequent treatment. But here, as in every 
other case where great interests are involved, however 
certain and reliable the means in themselves may be, 
such is the imperfection of human knowledge and 
experience, that there is a constant demand for Divine 
aid, to give potency to the means employed. The edu- 
cator is, at best, but the weak instrument in the hands 
of the wise Disposer of events ; and his strength for 
good or for evil, is usually measured by the presence 
or absence of this Divine guidance; and it is safe to 
say further, that his moral force is regulated by his 
ideas of God, and the estimate he places upon the 
observance of his precepts. 

Again : so intricate and multiform are the shades of 
distinctions in the intellectual, moral and physical fab- 
ric ; and such a diversity obtains in the capacities, both 
with respect to the natural endowment of children and 
to the influences that have been brought to bear upon 
them, that no two results, precisely similar, can safely 
be predicated of the same forces operating. The forces, 
therefore, must be varied to suit every individual case. 
And here it is proper to remark, that the forces them- 
selves are as various as the individual wants for whose 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

supply they were evidently intended ; and it is because 
educators do not seek out and observe this harmony 
and adaptation, that so many errors are committed in 
the education of the young. 

To adopt a particular course of treatment, and to 
insist upon its observance in all cases, irrespective of 
constitutional and acquired differences, argue a dogma- 
tism and dullness almost unpardonable. It would sure- 
ly be regarded in this light, in every other profession. 
It would be substantially to adopt the theory, that all 
minds and bodies are of the same type, have the same 
constitutional peculiarities and educational capacities, 
and have been exposed to the same antecedent causes. 

Ko human being, therefore, possesses the wisdom, 
foresight or authority to legislate for the particular 
cases that arise in a'course of education or teaching. 
Neither was it designed that such should be the case, 
even to a limited extent^ Its effects would be to de- 
prive both teacher and pupil of their appropriate indi- 
viduality, and to circumscribe the limits of thought 
and human development. 

Hence, many of the improved (?) methods, which 
have become the particular hobbies of some particular 
teachers, amount to but little more than an exposition 
of this error; save so far as these particular methods 
can be generalized,and referred to a philosophic system 
of education. 

Hence, likewise, those particular plans for teaching 
the particular branches of science, however excellent 
in themselves, become useless when put into the hands 
of one unskilled in the sciences themselves, or ignorant 
of the nature and capacity of the mind, and of the uses 
of knowledge. It is like placing a sharp sword in the 



20 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

hands of a child, that is liable not only to injure oth- 
ers, but to destroy its own life. 

Precisely similar effects are produced by attempting 
to educate teachers by tilling their heads (more fre- 
quently, however, their hats) with diagrams and plans 
for giving instruction, while they are profoundly igno- 
rant, both of the nature and treatment of mind and 
body, and of the branches to be taught, as well as the 
objects to be attained in teaching them. What can be 
expected from such a course, but failure and disgrace? 
And the results show that the law of cause and effect 
has not yet been abolished. 

But all sound Theory and Practice are based upon 
the immutable laws of Truth. They must arise out of 
the fundamental principles lying at the foundation of 
this science of human culture, and be regulated by the 
laws adopted for their governance. These principles 
and these laws, in their essential nature, are logically 
and chronologically antecedent to all experience, and all 
theory, and all practice. Experience may develop them, 
but it does not constitute any essential part of them, 
any more than the experiments in chemistry and nat- 
ural philosophy constitute parts of these sciences. The 
experience is all well, so far as it goes to establish any 
general principle, or so far as it conforms to any; and 
it may be useful in the discovery of new principles. 
In this last case, it should be placed to the credit of 
the discoverer: but who would think of incorporating 
the mere experiment or the experience of the author, 
as a fundamental principle in the science, instead of 
the fact or principle discovered? 

Hence the inadequacy, so far as the purposes of a 
text-book are concerned, of any treatise on modes, that 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

deals thus exclusively with experience, or with meth- 
ods which have been successful, perchance, in the hands 
of particular teachers. When, therefore, these things 
are put forth in the shape of a science, to be learned 
and practiced by others, as such, the unwarrantable 
assumption is made, that all children require the same 
treatment; and that all teachers will be equally suc- 
cessful with the same methods, regardless of constitu- 
tional and acquired differences. 

This would be as unreasonable as to suppose that all 
plants would grow equally well in the same soil ; that 
all animals could subsist on the same food ; that all 
men would succeed equally well in the same employ- 
ment; or that all kinds of labor could be carried on 
with the same tools. 

Therefore, we find that when mere experience is 
exhausted, the light of the so-called science expires, 
and leaves us, too often, to grope our way in darkness, 
or to lean upon a broken reed. !N"o text-book, there- 
fore, is worthy of confidence, that embodies nothing 
more than mere experience. The science of education 
is as different from all this, as the sun himself is differ- 
ent from his own rays ; and the attempt to embody these 
things into a science, is not unlike an attempt would 
be to collect the sun's rays, and retain them in his 
absence. The nature and capacity of the subject to be 
operated upon, must be studied and understood, no 
less than the character of the forces employed, and the 
modes of application. 

Hence again we infer, that all true Theory and 
Practice must be, to a very great extent, the product of the 
teacher's own originality. 

~No teacher can be eminently successful by adopting 
the entire plans of another. He should not— nay, he 



22 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

can not wholly divest himself of his individuality. To 
whatever extent he does, he becomes a parasite. David 
could not fight in Saul's armor, for very cogent reasons. 
The teacher must, therefore, with the same originality 
and the same kind of dependence that characterized 
this great warrior, choose his own instruments ; and 
in most cases, the simpler the better. He must fight 
in his own armor, if he expect to win. The thoughts 
and feelings he brings forth, must be coined in his 
own mint, though the ore may be brought from a 
foreign mine. His own native energies must stamp 
them, and set the seal upon them, and give the 
impress of originality to them ; must breathe into them 
the breath of life, and inspire them with the living, 
acting, energizing spirit, if he would plant these 
thoughts deep in the sanctuary of the soul. He must 
shine with his own, and not with a reflected light. 
He must warm and invigorate with his own, not with 
a borrowed heat ; or he becomes the mere reflector 
of the rays of some superior orb. Unless he thus 
vitalizes his teachings, all his supposed excellence will 
become useless in his hands ; and, instead of hiding, 
will only serve to expose his deficiencies. 

Hence all the modern improvements and plans for 
the education of children, however excellent in them- 
selves, will be of little service unless they are warmed 
into life by the invigorating influence of intelligence. 
The teacher should, therefore, know the hidden springs 
of thought, of feeling and of will. He should under- 
stand the structure and organism of the machinery 
through which these act. He should acquaint him- 
self intimately with the nature and value of the 
educational forces, their influence upon the subject 
educated; and with the modes or processes of control- 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

ling and applying these forces. He thus becomes 
master of them, and, consequently, of his profession. 
He wields them in his own peculiar way, as this, to 
him, is the only right way. 

The whole Science of Human Culture, or of man 
and his education, therefore, admits of the following 
classification, and assumes the following character- 
istics. 

First : it is both Discursive and Didactic in its nature 
and its application. Discursive, in that it discusses 
the general principles which lie at the foundation of all 
human growth and development. Didactic, in that it 
teaches the proper application of these principles in 
the actual education of man. 

Second: it is both Theoretical and Practical. The- 
oretical, in that it treats of theories in reference to 
capacity, forces, and modes of culture. Practical, in 
that it puts these theories into actual operation. 

Third : it is both a Science and an Art. A Science, 
in that it deals in scientific principles, classifying and 
arranging them in systematic order. It investigates 
the elements and principles of education, as well as 
the modes of treatment involved in it. An Art, in 
that it applies these to the actual production of the 
results anticipated. 

Viewed in this light, as a Discursive Science, it treats, 
first, of the Educational Capacities, or susceptibilities 
of man : Secondly, of the nature and characteristics 
of the Educational forces, or instrumentalities em- 
ployed in his education : and thirdly, of the processes 
or modes of applying these forces to produce the 
required results. 

As a Didactic Art, it treats of the duties and em 



24 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

ployments, as well as the modes of treatment and meth- 
ods of teaching, concerned in the education of man. 

These again are classified under the following 
heads; viz., Home Duties, or employment; School- 
room Duties; and Miscellaneous Duties. The first 
have reference to the early treatment and training of 
children, while under the parental roof; the influence 
this treatment has upon the education of the child at 
school ; and indeed of all the Home influences and 
employments, under the following heads, viz. : Labor, 
'in its numerous departments, physical, intellectual 
and moral : Recreation, in its various forms ; and 
Rest, in its conditions and uses. 

The second, or School-room Duties and exercises, 
are those in which everything relating to school-teach- 
ing, as a profession, will be examined under the fol- 
lowing heads : 

1 . Preliminaries, including the organization of Schools, 
The opening exercises, and the assigning of lessons, 
with the various subdivisions which arise from the 
consideration of those topics. 

2. Study, its objects and uses, its requisites and modes, 
and the means of securing study. 

3. Recitation, its objects and motives, its conditions and 
requisites, and the methods of conducting recitations. 

4. Business, its objects and designs, its necessity and 
requisites, and the manner of conducting it. 

5. Recreation, its objects and ends, its requisites as to 
time, place and manner, and the methods or kinds 
best suited to the purposes. 

6. Government, as it relates to the family, the school 
and the community; its objects and aims, its qualifica- 
tions and requisites, and the means and methods of 
securing good government. 



26 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



OBJECTIVE. 



S"5T3STOI»SIS II- 

Plastic. Secretory. Alimentive. Desirous 
-{ of motion. Eager. Playful. Desirous of 
variety. Wanting. Restless. 



r External perception. Sensuous. Pleased with 

j glitter. Rudimental. Inquisitive. Curiosity 
Intellectual.-^ ... .,, . ,. t n .... 

J combined with instinct. Communicative. 

i. Without depth of thought. 



TRANSITION. 1 



Moral. 



Physical. 



r Affectionate. Innocent. Unsuspecting. Con- 
j scientious. A sense of right, but feeble to act. 
{ Passionate, often perverse. Dependent. Trust- 
L ing. Easily incited to good or evil. 



Immature. Unripe strength. Awkward. Li- 
able to over-exertion, etc. Disposed to indulge 
the appetite. Imaginary wants. Liable to 
contract bad habits or disease. 



C Desirous of concrete or tangible knowledge. 
Intellectual. \ Fanciful. Pleased with light literature. Im- 
L aginative. Fond of romance. 



. MOBAL. 



Phtsioal. 



I SUBJECTIVE - 



Intellectual. 



Moral. 



r Credulous. Impulsive. Capricious. Way- 
j ward. Formative. Hopeful. Visionary. De- 
1 sirous of an object of adoration. Ingenuous, 
[_ but often deceitful. Susceptible of good or evil. 



r Maturity. Strength. Power to resist or en- 
j dure. Fixedness of habit. Ability to control 
1 the powers. Conscious manhood. Grace of 
I person. Suavity of manner. 

f Investigative. Metaphysical. Analytical. 
J Rational. Reflective. Meditative. Inven- 
j tive. Argumentative. Theoretical. Premis- 
ing. Sagacious. 

r Established in belief, purpose and habit. Mod 
I eration. A constant growth in religion, or in 
J irreligious tendencies. Capable of the exor- 
L cise of faith. Philanthropic. Patriotic. 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 27 



CHAPTER II. 

EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 

We now return to the more general characteristics 
of our subject, viz., " Education as a Science;" and 
shall, in the following chapter, briefly speak of the 
character and design of man's educational wants, 
physical, intellectual and moral. 

Article 1 — Objective Period. 

The whole cycle of human life, so far as the educa- 
tional susceptibility of the individual is concerned, 
may be reckoned under three distinct periods. The 
first, or Objective, is that period in which the body is in 
its earlier stages of growth, and is consequently, deli- 
cate and tender, and possesses peculiaries never after- 
ward realized ; and in which the mind also partakes 
of similar peculiarities, being most impressible, and 
for the most part, indebted to the outer world, the ob- 
jects of nature and art, for its sources of development. 

The knowledge itself is characterized as objective, 
since it is chiefly of an external nature, and is ac- 
quired mainly through the avenues of the senses. True, 
there is some knowledge peculiar to this age and 
advancement, which would not appropriately belong 
to this list — such as knowledge of personal identity, 
cause and effect, right and wrong, etc. ; but the 



28 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Knowledge which relates to the physical world, that 
which is of daily contact, and whose acquisition 
depends upon the researches into nature and art, is the 
kind of which we speak. 

The moral powers, too, are in an objective state, 
clinging, like the vine, to some earthly support, and 
twining themselves about some tangible objects, as 
parents, brothers, sisters, friends, and sensible objects 
of early association, whose office it is to nourish them 
and lift them up from the tangible to the intangible, 
from the earthly to the heavenly. 

It will be seen, from a close examination of this sub- 
ject, that a moral and religious education is contem- 
plated, not merely in a theoretical sense, or as a thing 
desirable under certain circumstances, but as absolute, 
certain and practical ; for God has not planted these 
longing desires after some object of worship, after the 
pure, the exalted, the true, and the good, in his crea- 
tures, to mock and torment them. But he has made 
their gratification not only possible, but practical, and 
the source of the highest enjoyment : practical and 
even necessary, since the very wants of man's nature 
demand it. The soul cries out after God, the living, 
loving God, not God in the dead letter of doctrines 
and creeds, but God in nature, God in Revelation, God 
in the soul, as an object of love and exaltation. These 
wants become sometimes almost insatiable ; and if they 
are not gratified in a manner calculated to exalt the 
intellectual and moral powers, the affections will go 
out and attach themselves to improper objects ; and 
the rending of them loose, sometimes even rends the 
soul. 

The religious tendencies usually commence at a much 
uarlier period than many suppose. These desires are 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 29 

among the very first manifestations of intelligence; 
and they are never strengthened by delay. As soon, 
therefore, as the child is old enough to sin, it is old 
enough to pray. The very first lispings of infant 
intelligence should be of God, home and heaven. The 
very first sentences should be framed in love and 
tender affection — not in curses, blasphemy and deceit. 
Some parents and teachers say, " Oh, there is time 
enough for religious teaching after other things are 
learned." " The minds of children should not be 
biased by doctrines and creeds." It is not necessary, 
at all, that they should. This would defeat true 
religious teaching. But would the same policy in 
reference to reading, geography and arithmetic be a 
wise one, or one likely to be adopted by any parent 
or teacher ? Is there not truth in religion as well as 
in mathematics ? And will that truth not produce as 
healthy results ? Will it not expand the mind ? Who 
would dare say, " There is time enough for intellectual 
culture." " Do not bias the child's mind with gram- 
mar and arithmetic." " Wait till he comes to 
maturity." " Wait till he can judge for himself." 
How soon would his judgment mature sufficiently to 
decide upon a course of study suitable for his wants, 
without previous training ? Do not parents and 
teachers direct him in these things? It should be so 
in religious training. When is there a better time to 
commence this teaching than in youth? It is not 
necessary that wickedness should be the first product 
of the human heart, to the extent that some would 
have us believe. It is not necessary that a child 
should lie before he becomes truthful ; that he should 
kill or steal before he learns to respect the rights of 
person or property ; that he should cheat and defraud 



30 THE SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 

before he becomes honest ; that he should profane the 
name of God and his holy day, before he becomes 
reverent and conscientious; or that he should be 
disobedient and reckless, before he learns obedience and 
circumspection. But rather the reverse of this is 
true. 

The period "of youth is fraught with immense 
interests. If good seed is not sown in the human 
heart, bad will be ; and in its natural and unguarded 
condition, these seeds will grow with a strange luxu- 
riance. If the tender and good affections of the heart 
are not cultivated, their opposites will be. If these 
affections are not garnered by the righteous, they will 
be perverted ; and Satan and his emissaries will have 
them. The seeds of morality and religion will not 
grow more vigorously in a soil that has been poisoned 
and hardened by sin. The tender plants of virtue 
will not bear more precious fruit, by being reared side 
by side with the weeds of vice, nor will their luxu- 
riance be increased by any preoccupancy. The young 
affections of the human heart, offered upon the altar 
of religion and sanctified by Divine grace, become a 
sweet-smelling savor unto the Lord. The offerings that 
smoked upon Jewish altars, " the firstlings of the 
flock, the field, and of all the increase," were not more 
acceptable. This is the period, therefore, when direc- 
tion should be given to man's moral and religious 
nature. It is the one most favorable for making 
impressions, and consequently good impressions. This 
constitutes the chief reason for commencing this kind 
of education at the very outset in life. 

Again : a moral and religious education is insisted 
upon, on the principle that that education which 
does not affect a man's faith, or weakens rather than 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 31 

strengthens it ; which leaves his heart untouched, or 
in a worse state than it found it ; which sharpens the 
intellect, but blunts the moral powers ; which en- 
lightens the understanding, but darkens the soul ; 
which awakens thought, but warps the judgment; 
which warms the imagination, but freezes the affec- 
tions ; which strengthens the reason, but enfeebles the 
will; which quickens perception, but deadens con- 
science, is simply monstrous; that all true education 
makes man better, wiser, happier, stronger intellec- 
tually, physically and morally, just in the same ratio ; 
that every step in knowledge should mark a corre- 
sponding advance in goodness; that the sublimest 
hights of human acquisition and excellence are never 
scaled, unless the heart soar with the head. These 
and sundry other reasons are surely sufficient to in- 
duce any one to give due prominence to moral and 
religious training in early life. 

Section 1 — Physical Capacity. — But to particu- 
larize in reference to the objective capacity. The 
condition of the physical powers and their charac- 
teristic wants may be briefly described thus : The 
body itself is in a plastic or formative state. The 
bones are comparatively soft and flexible. The 
flesh is tender and delicate. The brain is spongy, 
rare, and thin in consistency, and the digestive and 
vital apparatuses are weak, and, for the most part, 
partake of the same general characteristics that other 
organs possess. The secretion of fluids in the body 
largely predominates over the more solid deposits. The 
whole structure may be fitly compared to a young and 
tender plant, before its vital functions have changed 
its juices into the more solid substances of the stock 



32 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

or leaves, etc. Changes, of course, take place in the 
character and structure of the body, every day and 
every hour. These are carried on chiefly by the vital 
functions, so that, while in health, the deposits exceed- 
ing the removals, the body is constantly increasing 
and maturing. Some of the chief wants or desires are 
those of food, or nourishment, and sleep. Hence the 
being may be described as alimentive and somnolent. 
But these wants are only periodical. They give way, 
or rather make way for the desires for motion and 
activity, which are in themselves about as strong and 
imperative and necessary as the desires for food and 
rest. Hence the continual restlessness of children 
during their waking hours, and their multiplied and 
multiform motions and gestures. These are all nec- 
essary for their health and growth ; at least, they all 
originate primarily in those natural desires wisely 
planted in children, without which they would not 
move a hand or foot ; nor would they scarcely eat or 
breathe. But with them, they become eager and 
grasping — literal absorbents. They resemble the 
hungry polyp, grasping in a hundred directions for 
some object of gratification. It is not only amusing 
but instructive, to watch the motions of a young child 
in one of those hungry, playful moods, as it lies and 
kicks and strikes in all its possible directions, without 
any apparent design: yet the teacher or parent that 
can not see both order and design in all this, has yet 
to learn his first lessons in the science of education. 
At a little more advanced period, the grasping com- 
mences, and every thing within reach of those little 
hands is appropriated to gratify those wants. This 
eagerness, so common to children, to lay hold upon 
every object, whether harmless or hurtful, — and what 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 33 

seems strange, the -mo re injurious the more eager they 
seem to grasp it, and generally to convey it to the 
mouth — is only an additional evidence of an educa- 
tional capacity, and of the necessity of furnishing that 
rapacity with suitable educational instruments. These 
are but the first lessons, prompted by natural desires, 
to become acquainted with the properties of matter. 
Other animals are provided with certain instincts that 
prompt them either to select or to reject, and thus to 
guard themselves from danger. Hence they do not 
stand in so great need of education. But children 
learn by experience. They appropriate indiscrim- 
inately, and acquire knowledge by experimenting. 
Again : the young of all animals are playful. Chil- 
dren possess this propensity in a remarkable degree. 
This desire should not be checked too early or too 
severely, and surely never repressed entirely, but 
rather encouraged and made a means of physical 
culture. A rational gratification of this desire also 
keeps the mind in a healthy state. 

The desire for novelty and change is another strong 
characteristic of this period. Nature has kindly 
furnished a vast supply of pleasing variety, and endless 
change of objects and scenery ; and has as wisely and 
munificently planted in the child's nature, a desire to 
be brought in contact with these things. The grati- 
fication of this desire also furnishes the requisite 
amount of healthy exercise. This wanting and restless 
longing for variety, change and novelty, is a kind 
of semi-intellectual want, inasmuch as the mind is 
about an equal sharer with the body in the benefits 
of its gratification. 



34 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

m 

Section 2 — Intellectual Capacity. — Intellectually 
considered, the human being at this age, presents 
a strange variety — a world of mystery— and the 
world into which he is introduced, is not less won- 
derful and mysterious to him. 'No wonder then 
that strange inconsistencies and seeming paradoxes, 
present themselves in the path of the educator ! The 
intellectual powers have so many different ways of 
manifesting themselves in early youth, as almost to 
baffle description. But this inability on our part is 
evidently owing to the great want of extensive and 
accurate knowledge of the human powers, especially 
those of the mind, at this early period. What seems 
to our imperfect understanding of the entire scope of 
intellectual power, to be incomprehensible and some- 
times antagonistic to what we have come to regard as 
truth, when submitted to the severest scrutiny, often 
reveals new truths and new wonders, and astonishes 
us with the striking analogy of truth in all the de- 
partments of nature : so that we shall be safe in assum- 
ing that these powers are guided, universally, in their 
development, by fixed laws, whose boundary and 
scope can be sufficiently defined, and whose operations 
can be sufficiently limited and controlled by human 
agencies, to render them subservient to the pur- 
poses of education. But to give to these intellectual 
powers, as a whole, a characteristic description at 
their several periods of growth, seems to be a matter 
of the greatest difficulty. We shall be safe in saying, 
however, that, in the objective state, their early man- 
ifestations are exhibited chiefly through external per- 
ception. The eye and the ear are the chief avenues 
to the mind and soul. Through them impressions 
are first made. These are prompted to act and to 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 85 

acquire by a certain desire for activity, they have in 
themselves, and an inquisitiveness or curiosity com- 
bined with instinct, planted in the mind as a kind of 
stimulator, or mental appetite. And while these 
prompt to action, from within, the world of form, 
color, sound and beauty invite from without ; so that 
the young powers are thus, by degrees, led forth to 
revel in new delights. And though it may be an- 
ticipating a little, it is proper to remark here, that 
this mode of educating should not be interrupted 
throughout all the subsequent course of the pupil. 
No artificial stimulants can be substituted without 
deranging the order and harmony of the growth. 
The child is first led to observe, and then. to think. 
He is first sensuous and slightly imaginative in his 
essential characteristics, before he is rational and ar- 
gumentative. He is pleased with form and color, 
and the glitter and show of external beauty, before 
his thoughts take a subjective turn. His appropriate 
knowledge, as a basis of thought, and consequently, 
his capacity and thoughts themselves, may be char- 
acterized as rudimental, partaking in a slight degree 
of whatever peculiarities they shall afterward inherit. 
They are just receiving shape and definite proportions. 
They are striking out in all directions, and seeking 
ever for new objects of investigation and discovery. 
Hence, in addition to the child's inquisitive nature, 
he is communicative, but without depth of thought. 
There is an energy, a sprightliness, about his powers 
at this period, which is very remarkable. This urges 
him on with a restless longing, ever to new fields of 
inquiry; until the mind gathers stores sufficient to 
set up a stock of thoughts and a process of thinking 
at home, or on its own individual responsibility. 



36 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

This, it is true, is but a rude and imperfect sketch 
of the intellectual capacity, as we generally find it 
throughout this period; but it is hoped it may serve 
as a guide in that most interesting and profitable de- 
partment of study. 

Section 3 — Moral Capacity. — -It has already been 
remarked, that the moral nature of the child at this 
period, is peculiarly susceptible. It is sufficient to 
add, perhaps, by way of particularizing, that the 
affections of the child bear about the same relation 
to his moral nature, that perception does to his 
intellectual. The one is the avenue to the mind, 
the other is the avenue to the soul ; and as percep- 
tions are antecedent to thinking and reason, so 
affections are, to conscience and will. If we say there- 
fore, that he is affection al, we shall describe him in 
this particular. But these affections and faculties, as 
to their susceptibility, are both good and bad. As 
the eye and the ear may drink in sights and sounds 
erroneous and false in themselves, and thus leave er- 
roneous impressions upon the intellectual faculties ; 
so may the affections, even from the same and other 
sources, become corrupted, and thus carry mildew and 
moral death into the very soul. 

The child is comparatively innocent — entirely so, 
antecedent to any actual transgression — and his sub- 
sequent guilt is usually measured both by his natural 
disposition or capacity for sin, and by the advantages 
(if they may be termed such) he has enjoyed for culti- 
vating it. His actual transgression is therefore, to a 
great extent, the product of mismanagement. 

He is also unsuspecting. Not having been trained 
ir the hypocritical practices of maturer guilt, he is 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 37 

tnerefore, at first, easily imposed upon. But he soon 
learns, and usually becomes an apt scholar in decep- 
tion. He is likewise conscientious, having a sense of 
right and wrong, but feeble to act. This sense is 
easily shocked, at this period, and it too often be- 
comes somewhat paralyzed, which is generally the first 
step in the hardening process which follows. It can 
not be denied also tbat the child is passionate and 
often perverse. This is usually more observable in 
children of a sensitive nature, than those of a dull 
and morose disposition ; hence due allowances should 
be made. There is a natural dependence, however,in 
children, which renders these proclivities more or less 
subject to wholesome restraints. The child is not 
only dependent by virtue of his natural helplessness, 
but he is likewise, by nature, a trusting and confiding 
creature. This renders him easily incited eitber to 
good or to *evil. Thus, itwill be seen, his moral capac- 
ity may be estimated. 

Article 2 — Transition Period. 

The second period may, from its nature and pecul- 
.arities, be denominated the transition period, since 
the mind and body, during this period, are both sup- 
posed to be undergoing a radical change ; and in all 
right education and growth, this change is effected 
simultaneously in each : for the body should grow 
with the mind, since tlu healthiest development oi 
the one depends upon a corresponding state of the 
other. 

Tbis period, however, is subject to great abuse 
An unhealthy ripeness of both mind and body, is 
frequently provoked here by the fashionable follies oi 
the age, and our modern modes of education. 



38 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Children become miniature men and women before 
they become respectable boys and girls. The reason 
is, vice stimulates the mind, or, at least, some depart- 
ments of it, to a precocious maturity, so that its native 
energies are soon exhausted, and then it ceases to ex- 
pand, but assumes a kind of conceit and low cunning, 
which will, in a measure, account for the charac- 
teristic smartness of some of our boys and girls, who 
are exposed to the vices of a city life. 

But the mind is not the only sufferer. The body 
becomes dwarfed and enfeebled under these unnatural 
drains upon its resources; and thus, insulted and 
thwarted in its natural endeavors, it ceases to grow at 
an early age, and assumes some of the semblances of 
manhood ; while a healthy, full and large size is seldom 
attained. 

This period is marked in the body by the earliest 
indications of change from boyhood to manhood, or 
from girlhood to womanhood ; and in the mind, by a 
corresponding change in the tastes and mental habits ; 
by a desire for a higher class of literature, or other 
and higher kinds of knowledge; by an ability to 
pursue metaphysical studies, though the physical con- 
stitute the chief media through which the transition 
is made. 

It is that period in life when the mind is neither 
fully objective in its manifestations, nor yet fully sub- 
jective, but changing, as it were, from the one state to 
the other. It holds fast by one hand to the tangible 
forms upon which, in early life, it depended almost 
exclusively for the stimulus to action ; and with the 
other, it reaches forward with a strange fascination to 
the intangible or the unknown world of thought and 
pure intellection, with increasing and enlarged desires, 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 39 

and feasts upon the newly discovered dainties of rea- 
son, abstraction, and the higher forms of thought and 
investigation. 

It by no means follows, however, that it loses any 
of its objective characteristics. Its power to observe 
and enjoy outward forms, and to appropriate objective 
knowledge and beauty, is only increased by the wak- 
ing up ot a new world of inner life, as is evidenced 
by the increased interest a highly cultivated mind 
takes in all the operations of nature and of art. It is, 
in fact, not only the point at which the two worlds 
are joined together, but it is the link itself that unites 
them ; the objective being instrumental chiefly in 
awakening the subjective, while it, in turn, is more 
than compensated by the additional loveliness and 
beauty with which the latter invests the former. 

Section 1 — Physical Capacity. — The physical 
powers in this period may be briefly described thus. 
The body is generally in a state of rapid growth. 
There is a certain immaturity or greenness about 
it, which renders it susceptible to the slightest im- 
pressions. It may have the semblance of strength, 
but it is a flashy, unripe kind of strength, which 
renders the body liable to over-exertion. It lacka 
durability and stability. It is, for the most part, 
incapable of severe and protracted efforts. The 
movements are generally awkward; because there are 
continually new spheres of action imposed upon the 
members, and they must become habituated to these 
before they can act in them with grace, ease and pre- 
cision. The voice is usually broken, half inclined to 
the manly and to the boyish tones. There is also a 
strong tendency to excess or over-indulgence, since 
the appetite, and indeed nearly all the desires are 



40 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

necessarily strong, while the judgment and will are 
apt, through neglect or otherwise, to be weak. There 
is a class of imaginary wants, liable to spring up here, 
and to plead lustily for redress; but they are the 
mere perversions of the natural and legitimate desires. 
Indulgence, therefore, only aggravates them ; and 
they beget another brood of similar character, until 
the unfortunate victim is haunted, as it were, by a 
hoard of hungry passions. Bad habits, diseases and 
distempers of various kinds, grow up from this state 
of things, to the no small annoyance of the youth 
who indulges too freely. 

Other characteristics similar to these might be 
described ; but they will readily be inferred from 
what has already been said. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Capacity. — The intel- 
lectual condition has been partially described. \t 
is in an objecto-subjective state, in relation to its 
characteristic wants. It seeks concrete and tan- 
gible knowledge as a means of inducing the dis- 
crete and intangible. The literary taste is rather 
inaccurate and fanciful, than true and well defined. 
There is a special fondness for light literature, extrav- 
agant theories, and " windy" eloquence. The judg- 
ment is not entirely settled, and the understanding is 
immature. Even the memory is in a transition state, 
passing from the notice of facts to principles and theo- 
ries. It grasps both classes, but it usually finds difficulty 
in assuming and discharging both functions entire. 
Hence it is not an uncommon thing for the memory, 
under bad treatment, to become treacherous in this 
period, and to remain so for life. But this is by no 
means a necessary result. Under proper treatment, it 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 41 

may all the time improve, notwithstanding it may 
exhibit these peculiarities as above stated. 

The individual is also imaginative, and apt to be- 
come somewhat sentimental ; though, this is more a 
moral affection than an intellectual. Hence a fondness 
for romance is peculiar to this period. This taste in 
itself, is a useful one, but liable to great abuse. It 
should not therefore be crushed out, but directed. 
By crushing it, all taste for literature is sometimes 
obliterated : but of this, under the head of Processes. 

Section 3 — Moral Capacity. — The moral con- 
dition at this period will scarcely need additional 
description. It has already been treated, in a 
general way, in the preceding remarks. One of its 
marked characteristics, however, is hopefulness. The 
individual is supposed to be just entering upon a 
new sphere. Every thing seems to wear an invit- 
ing aspect. Hence the real value of men and 
things is often misjudged and over-estimated. This, 
while it is chiefly an intellectual operation, has, like 
most others of a similar import, a most decided moral 
effect. The heart generally becomes more or less 
impressible, as the truthfulness or falsity of these 
mental impressions become more or less apparent. 
The individual is apt to be visionary and chimerical, 
yet equally susceptible to truthful impressions. The 
heart is comparatively tender, and the sensibilities 
quisk and lively. The religious tendencies are strong ; 
but the world and sensual pleasures usually invite, and 
the conscience and will are frequently too feeble, 
unless strengthened by subsequent treatment, to 
interpose a successful barrier. Many, therefore, fall 
into bad habits, here. There is, however, most un- 
mistakably, a strong desire, on the part of most youtli 



42 * THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

of the age of which we are speaking, for some object 
of religious worship or adoration. Hence, in this re- 
spect, the young may be said to be of a religious turn ; 
but they are usually credulous and impulsive, ready 
to believe almost any thing congenial to taste or incli- 
nation. They eagerly grasp at whatever dogmas or 
doctrines promise the largest liberty to belief, and 
sometimes to sensual pleasure. Hence the great 
importance of instilling correct religious sentiments 
and practices early in life; so as to anticipate these 
difficulties. Children are usually generous and benev- 
olent in their impulses, at this period; and these 
qualities are not ^infrequently associated with a ca- 
pricious and wayward disposition, often whimsical and 
inconsistent, full of conceit and levity, sometimes, at 
others, proud and ambitious. But these peculiarities 
are seldom permanently established at this age, and 
hence subject to removal. The moral character is in 
a formative state, which will account in no small 
degree for these oscillations, seeming inconsistencies, 
and the preponderance of evil. Hence the boy, in this 
period, may, as it were, be both ingenuous and frank, 
and treacherous and deceitful : not, however, that either 
of these traits has become settled in all cases, but in 
this unsettled state both dispositions may be mani- 
fested. Girls are generally more humane and tender- 
hearted ; while boys, whose dispositions may result 
not less fortunately, will manifest a degree of cruelty 
and barbarism absolutely astonishing. Boys usually 
possess the greater frankness ; and girls, the greater 
sensibility. The first possess more will; and the 
latter, more affection. Both are, however, subject to 
great change ; but more with the boys than with the 
girls. Girls usually mature sooner than boys,-which 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 43 

may in some measure account for the difference. Both 
may be said, however, to vary with circumstances, 
and to be very susceptible at this period, either to good 
or to evil impressions, and hence to good or evil ten- 
dencies and habits. 

Article 3— Subjective Period. 

The third, or subjective period will scarcely need 
description, since its chief characteristics will be 
inferred from the account given of the other two. It 
is, however, that period in life when both the mind 
and body begin to assume their greatest strength and 
activity. It is the fully developed state of both ; or 
rather that period when the various processes of 
manly and womanly development are most marked. 

Section 1 — Physical Capacity. — This period is 
distinguished in the bodily and physical powers, by 
certain and well known characteristics — such for 
instance, as a general maturity; a fullness and plump- 
ness, or roundness of form ; sonorousness of voice ; 
vigorous development of bodily strength ; the power 
to resist and endure ; fixedness of habit; — for a person 
at twenty-five or thirty years of age, seldom, if ever, 
entirely changes his habits and desires, unless some 
" stronger than the strong man armed " with habit, 
attacks, binds and casts out the former inhabitant ; 
and even in this case, there is a constant tendency to 
revert to former practices. 

It is further marked by ability to control the desires 
and appetites, as well as the motions of the body. 
Conscious manhood or womanhood, grace and beauty 
of person, suavity of manner and a general appearance 
of maturity of bodily power, give full indications of 



44 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the entire preponderance of subjective influences and 
wants. 

Of course, due allowance must be made in this 
estimate, for those who, either from natural defi- 
ciencies or acquired peculiarities, never fill these 
conditions. All such require additional care in order 
to regulate the conflicting forces. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Capacity. — Intellectually 
considered, this period exhibits some marked peculiar- 
ities. As it has been intimated, the intellectual facul- 
ties are distinguished by a state of development corre- 
sponding with the growth and maturity of the body. 

The reasoning and reflective powers assume their 
highest forms of action. Metaphysical investigations 
— which seemed to the preceding periods as dry ab- 
stractions — become matters of peculiar pleasure now. 
The imagination, quickened into new life by these sub- 
jective beauties, walks abroad into the hitherto 
unknown fields of the ideal world, and gathers the 
materials and combinations for the richest creations 
of art. The understanding, ripened into perfect con- 
ceptions, takes comprehensive views of plans, theories 
and general principles ; and dwells with increasing 
interest upon the useful, the true and the good. The 
judgment, matured in its discriminations, weighs, com- 
pares, classifies and adjusts the points and principles 
of argumentation. The memory, having received a 
bountiful supply of facts and principles, gathers them 
up, associates them, retains them and reproduces them 
at pleasure. The taste, corrected and refined by the 
combined action and aid of the other powers, dis- 
criminates truly in the aesthetic world, and the whole 
intellectual machinery moves in harmony. 



EDUCATIONAL CAPACITY. 45 

Section 3 — Moral Capacity. — In a moral, religious 
and social capacity, the characteristics are not less 
apparent. There is a strength, power and stability of 
will, and fixedness of purpose and habit, seldom, if 
ever, attained in either of the other periods. The 
affections assume a loftier sphere, and the conscience, 
under proper culture, becomes a fixed principle. A 
moderation characterizes the desires and wishes, and 
controls the decisions ; a toleration and forbearance 
for the mistakes and weaknesses of others prevail 
here, — all of which are almost the direct antipodes of 
the rabid opinions, and hasty and ill-digested decisions, 
peculiar to the period preceding this. 

The religious tendencies and principles, under 
certain circumstances, are apt to be strong in this 
period, and they will increase with advancing years, 
and subsequent development of the mind, provided, in 
both cases, the influences have been, and are still, 
favorable to such growth. But on the other hand, if 
the influences have been adverse, whether constitu- 
tional or otherwise ; and if there is no yielding up 
of the powers, to be controlled by the Divine agency, 
irreligious tendencies increase in about the same ratio ; 
moral and religious feelings become hardened, and the 
tendencies are altogether toward infidelity. The man 
is capable, therefore, of the exercise of the largest faith 
in the promises of Divine revelation, or he may be 
the subject of the most distressing doubts, and of the 
blindest unbelief. He is capable of the exercise of 
the widest and the loftiest philanthrophy, or his 
sympathies may be dried and withered by the rankest 
selfishness. His patriotism may be of the purest and 
loftiest character, and flow on in the widest stream ; 
or it may be narrowed down to the meanest and 



46 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION^ 

most crooked channel of corrupt party spirit. His 
expanding powers may be taught to grasp the world, 
and his love to embrace the whole brotherhood of the 
race, and his affections all to center in God, the great 
source of every lofty aspiration ; or by simple neglect 
or positive effort, he may turn these living streams, 
these springs and fountains of the soul, into the filth- 
iest cess-pools, or streams of the dirtiest gall, or stag- 
nant marshes whose dreadful malaria shall poison 
and corrupt every living thing. 

This gives us, at least, a partial view of the educa- 
tional susceptibility or capacity of the human being, 
at the respective periods of development, as well as 
the changes to which these capacities are subject. 

It is proper to remark in the conclusion of this part 
of the subject, that these changes, in different indi- 
viduals, are not always accompanied with the same 
phenomena, nor do they occur at the same age ; nor 
yet, in all cases, do the mind and body keep pace with 
each other, owing to constitutional differences. For 
to suppose this to be the case, would be, in effect, to 
revive the unwarrantable assumption, that individual 
capacity is universally the same. But it should be the 
object of education, so to equalize and distribute the 
forces as to counteract, so far as possible, any ab- 
normal growth or precocious development of the fac- 
ulties on the one hand, and disease or imbecility on 
the other. 

For a general review of this part of the subject, viz., 
man's Educational Capacity, the reader is referred to 
the scheme, or general view, placed at the beginning 
of this chapter. 

The matter is placed in this shape, for the conve- 
nience of the student. 



48 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



SYNOPSIS III. 



OBJECTIVE. 



r Food. ^Clothing. Air. Light. Cleanliness, 

etc. Toys. Pictures. Playmates. Parents. 

^ Domestic animals. Trees. Fruits. Flowers. 



r Color. Form. Size. Motion. Sound. Lan 
Intellectual. \ guage of names and emotions. Simple nar- 
Lrative. Concrete numbers. 



\ TRANSITION.^ 



MORAL. 



Physical. 



r Parental love. Family and Social influences 
J Watchfulness. Firmness. Patience. Simi- 
le pathy. Protection. Discipline. 

r Agricultural and Mechanical labor. Fine 
-I Arts. Gymnastics. Calisthenics. Amuse- 
L ments. Rest. Food. Sleep, etc. 



C Physical Science. History. Biography, etc. 
Intellectual. -{ Language (use.) Mathematics (mixed.) Me- 
L chankal employment. Manners. 



Moral. 



f Bible lessons. Maxims. Precepts. Relig- 
ion. Example. Practice. Biography and 
L History of worthy characters and events. 



L SUBJECTIVE. 



r Some fixed occupation. Labor. 
■ 
Physical. -{ Recreation. Rest. 

L Singing. Reading. 

r Mental Science. Logic. Pure Mathematics. 
Intellectual, -j Philology. Philosophy. Poetry. Art. Evi- 
[ dencesof Christianity. Civil polity. 



f 



Moral science. Ethics. 
I Moral. J Biblical Theology. Psychology. 

( Natural Theology. Religion. 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 49 



CHAPTER III. 

EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 

We now invite the reader's attention to the exam- 
ination of the educational forces or instrumentalities, 
as they exist in the world of matter and of mind. 
These forces are as numerous as the wants they were 
intended to supply. And here we re-affirm, that there 
exists no want, of an educational character, which 
'the Creator has not wisely considered and provided 
for. The eye, for instance, was made for the light — 
with a most wonderful adaptation, too, with educa- 
tional wants which light alone can supply — and light 
was furnished that the eye might find ample scope for 
exercise. The ear was made for sounds, and sounds 
for the ear ; the lungs for the air, and air for the 
lungs; food for the body, and the body for food; 
labor for the hands, aud the hands for labor. Just 
examine their wonderful mechanism, and then say, 
if you can, that they were made to be idle ! The 
mind, too, was made for labor, for thought, for sci- 
ence ; and the world of investigation and science was 
made for mind. The soul was made to love, to sym- 
pathize, to worship and adore ; and God is, and man 
was created, that its every power might find room for 
expansion and perfect development. It starves, too, 
without these supplies, just as surely as the body starves 



SO THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

without its supplies. How vain, and worse than 
foolish, therefore, the argument of atheists, or that 
which would rob man of an essential part of his 
being, and deprive him of his appropriate exercise ! 

Thus every sense and every faculty of body, mind 
and soul, finds appropriate stimulants in the world of 
matter, or in the more occult mysteries of meta- 
physics. In no department of the works of the 
Creator, do we observe happier adaptations of means 
to ends, or stronger evidences of wisdom and design ; 
and the whole creation abounds and rejoices in this 
marvelous harmony. 

But, to return. These Educational Forces, as they 
are termed, embrace all the means and influences of 
an educational character, that are or can be brought 
to bear upon mind, body and soul throughout the 
whole period of life. Indeed, they begin with man's' 
very existence, and are doubtless co-extensive with that 
existence. Those, however, that relate more immedi- 
ately to his present education, will claim attention 
here. They may be classified according to their 
nature and the influence they exert, in the following 
general groups, viz. : Objects of nature and art : Books 
of science, religion and literature; Living teachers, and 
whatever other influences may be addressed to man's 
faculties, either from an external or from an internal 
source. All these, again, admit of the same classifi- 
cation, that we find in the educational capacity or 
susceptibility, viz. : Objective, or primary ; Transition, 
or intermediate; and Subjective, or advanced: not, 
however, that these forces are necessarily or inher- 
ently so ; but that they so accommodate themselves to 
the educational capacity of man ; and so arrange 
themselves that every educational want, physical, in- 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 51 

tellectual and moral, is provided for, at these several 
periods. But, to particularize. 

Article 1— Objective Period. 

It will be seen, by a brief reference to Chapter 
Second, Article 1, Sec. 1, that appetite, motion 
and kindred desires are among the earlier wants 
of infant man or woman. Therefore, the appro- 
priate supplies would be food, light, air, temper- 
ature, clothing, exercise, sleep, cleanliness, etc., as 
administering more directly to the physical wants ; 
and toys, pictures, playmates, parents, domestic 
animals — both bird and beast — trees, fruits, flowers, 
etc, etc., as instruments, not only of the best physical 
culture, at this early age, but aiding much in the in- 
tellectual and moral ; since the surest and safest 
means of reaching these infant powers, is through the 
physical man. This fact must be borne in mind con- 
stantly ; that whatever merit these things possess in 
a physical sense, they are no less valuable as a means 
of waking up mind and calling out the affections. 
Indeed, they seem to be the Divinely appointed in- 
struments of infant education ; and no attempts to 
abandon them, or to barter them for their artificial 
substitutes, should be tolerated. They need not, and 
indeed, they will not, displace others of a judicious 
character. They only fill the hiatus that too often 
offers an easy ingress to idleness and vice. 

Of course, these supplies are constant throughout 
all the periods of life, the quantity and quality varied, 
only to suit the character of the wants. No one, for 
instance, would maintain, that the food and exercises 
best suited for the infant, or even the youth, would 
be best for the adult. And the same is true mainly 



52 THE SCIENCE OY EDUCATION. 

of the other forces. The character of the want will 
indicate the quantity and quality of the supply. 

A mere allusion to some of the chief characteristics 
of these forces must suffice for the present, while their 
peculiar fitness will be inferred from their mode of 
application, discussed in another place. 

Section 1 — Physical Forces. — The food should be 
plain, simple and nutritious. Nature has kindly indi- 
cated its quality, as well as, in part, its quantity, in the 
supply she has furnished for the tender age of infancy. 
Whatever changes are necessary, should be made after 
consulting the wants of childhood — real wants, not 
imaginary ones. It is often the case that a false 
demand is created by injudicious supplies, which be- 
comes imperious in after life. 

The light should be the natural light, and as equally 
diffused as possible, throughout childrens' apartments. 
This seems to be indicated by the general diffusion 
of light throughout all the departments of nature, 
where plants and animals exist. The sunlight is 
God's light, and one of his best gifts to man. Its 
quality has never yet been equaled or improved by 
any artificial compound. It is an essential element 
in the healthy growth and development of plants and 
animals, as has been abundantly proved by exper- 
iment. Why then should we attempt to shun it, or 
to change its essential ingredients by any artificial 
means ? This light may change the color of the skin 
slightly ; but then this change should be coveted, 
rather than dreaded. It is the change from the pale, 
sickly hues of disease, or the shaded life, to that of 
health, vigor and hardihood. 

Children should be allowed the free use of sunlight; 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 53 

for nothing seems so unreasonable as to deprive them 
of it, or to put them on a stinted allowance, since it 
is nature's own bounty. What looks more healthy, 
and consequently beautiful, than sun-embrowned 
boys and girls, if they have observed the laws of 
health in other respects ? But we pass this to notice the 

Air. — This, of course, should be pure, and used 
freely. It, like the light, is a free gift; and no one 
therefore should be allowed to speculate upon it, or 
to deprive any one of the free use of it. It is well 
known also, that after being once used, for the pur- 
poses of breathing, etc., it is utterly unfit for use 
again, until it is purified by natural processes. It 
becomes poisonous. JSTo one therefore should be com- 
pelled to use it in this condition ; much less to breathe 
it a third or fourth time, without its being first sub- 
mitted to the purifying processes. What, for instance, 
would be thought of a man who would poison a 
fountain of water, at which the whole neighborhood 
drank? He would not only be publicly execrated, 
but publicly executed. But we do a deed similar to 
this, when we compel our children to breathe fetid 
atmosphere. But much has been said on this subject, 
in other works. 

The Temperature of the body has an important 
bearing upon the health. All parts should maintain 
nearly the same temperature ; i. e., the heat should be 
uniformly distributed, in order to keep up healthy 
circulation. This brings us to notice the clothing 
This, of course, should be adapted to age, employ- 
ment, climate, constitutional peculiarities, etc. For 
information on this subject, the reader is referred to 
works on physiology and hygiene. It is a remarkable 
fact, however, that no parts of the human body, espe« 



51 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

cially in childhood and youth, need protection more 
than the upper and lower extremities ; and it is 
equally remarkable, and more strange than remark- 
able, that no parts are more exposed, especially at that 
age, when the danger from exposure is greatest. The 
physical and moral evils arising from this whim of 
fashion, are too apparent and too appalling to need 
exposition here. They can not, however, be too dis- 
tinctly pointed out, and carefully guarded against. 

Sleep is a necessity, and has a remarkable effect 
upon childhood. Without it, some, and indeed all 
the important functions of the living being, would 
o-ease. Its necessity and effects are scarcely less 
apparent in the moral and intellectual man. To be- 
come useful, however, it must be taken periodically, 
and, except in cases of infancy and early childhood, 
or in disease, should be taken in the absence of the 
sun's rays from the earth. Night is the time appoint- 
ed to man for sleep, and the day for labor, activity 
and enterprise ; and no attempt to change this beau- 
tiful order, should be tolerated. The individual, 
therefore, who, without good and sufficient reasons, 
such as named above, lies abed while the sun is shin- 
ing upon his part of the world, violates a clearly 
implied law of God ; and so does he who wantonly 
spends that portion of the night, designed for sleep, 
in labor, pleasure or dissipation. No animal except 
man, willingly violates this law ; and none suffer ita 
penalties so fearfully. 

Cleanliness is so nearly allied to Godliness, that its 
importance can scarcely be over-estimated. It is so 
essential to the health and happiness of the human 
race, that its claims, as an educational force, will 
scarcely be disputed by any one ; and so intimately 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 55 

allied is it to man's true education, that we find it 
keeping steady and even pace with him, throughout 
all his various stages of advancement. This is true 
no less of nations than of individuals, as will at once 
appear, upon a comparison of the manners and cus- 
toms of some of the more enlightened nations, with 
those of the Chinese, or the still less fastidious Arabs. 
What enlightened nation, for instance, would be will- 
ing to adopt the beastly habits of the filthy Esquimau, 
or the South-Sea Islander? It is safe to say, therefore, 
that a nation's true advancement may be measured 
by its cleanliness : and the same is true, no less of 
individuals than of masses. 

We have no charity, and but little patience, for that 
kind of education which does not improve a man's 
habits and general appearance ; which does not refine 
and elevate him in his social capacity, and indeed in 
every other respect. But if filthiness is unpardonable 
anywhere, it is certainly so in the family and in the 
school-room, where children are forming opinions 
and habits for life. 

Toys and Apparatus are of great service in the 
education of children. They are the tools with which 
they conduct the various operations and experiments 
in their miniature world, the nursery, the school room 
and their surroundings. They are also safe and 
cheap investments; for they not only afford the means 
of innocent amusement and healthy development, but 
they often save doctor-bills, and not unfrequently 
bills of a more exceptionable character. The school 
apparatus is too generally confined to the. high-school, 
and the home apparatus to the parlor, or locked up safe 
from mischievous hands, whose annoyance sometimes 
becomes almost insufferable, in consequence of this 



56 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

privation. The apparatus in many of our best high- 
schools and colleges, costs thousands of dollars; while 
the primary and secondary schools, if furnished with 
any, can usually sum up theirs in the brief cata- 
logue, — " a disordered globe, a broken numeral frame, 
and a few antiquated maps and charts;" and in 
many instances, indeed, the walls of these depart- 
ments are as bare as those of a prison. Now this is 
wrong. The primary and secondary schools, by virtue 
of the objective nature of their inmates, need the most 
apparatus, though it should differ in quality from that 
of the high-school. The advanced scholars, for a 
similar reason, are capable, for the most part, of carry- 
ing forward their investigations without such helps, 
however great the advantages of having them may 
be. It would by no means be wise, therefore, to 
diminish the apparatus in the higher departments ; 
but it would be, to increase it in the lower; being 
careful, of course, to select such a variety as would 
suit the wants of children — such, for instance, with 
which they can experiment. 

Pictures are no less useful than toys, since they 
are the representatives of objects, and thereby aid the 
mind in making its transfer of knowledge from the 
tangible to the intangible. Their chief utility, how- 
ever, as instruments of physical culture, is in training 
the eye to trace the outlines of beauty, and the hand 
in imitating it. They might be classed with toys, etc., 
only that they are one step higher in the scale. Their 
use will be explained more fully under the head of 
"physical culture," in chapter fifth. 

Playmates are almost as essential to the healthy and 
natural development of children, as light is to the 
plant. A child reared alone is deprived of a large 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 5? 

share of those youthful sports which constitute so 
essential an element in his physical culture; and if 
exclusively with old people, he not only assumes their 
habits, but the shape of the body is often modified by 
the unnatural influences; so that he becomes gradually, 
in habits and decrepitude, the aged invalid. Any 
attempt, therefore, to thwart nature, by furnishing old 
heads for young shoulders, or bringing children to 
maturity before they have passed through the child 
period, will only be accompanied with disastrous con- 
sequences. But 

Parents and Teachers are indispensable to the ac- 
complishment of all that is desirable in the physical 
education of the child. They are so necessary that it 
does not seem important that their particular functions 
should be pointed out here. They, however, become 
objects of love and veneration, as well as the instru- 
ments of instruction, protection, direction and re- 
straint. But, as necessary as they are in these respects, 
it would seem that many children would fare better 
without them than with them ; for when they scold 
them, and beat them, and look upon them continually 
with suspicion, they poison not only their minds, but 
interfere, in no small degree, with their physical 
growth. And when they pamper and indulge them, 
especially their appetites, they breed conceit, laziness 
and physical diseases. But of this, more particularly 
under Modes of Culture. 

Domestic Animals, both birds and beasts, are the 
delight of children, and usually afford them their first 
lessons in natural history, as well as the means for 
their physical exercises. No one who has ever wit- 
nessed the gambols of rosy-cheeked boys and girls, 
with a noble Newfoundland dog, or their playful 



58 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

excursions with a Shetland pony, or perhaps, what 
is just as useful, and a good deal more common, 
the healthy care and labor with domestic animals on 
the farm, can doubt for one moment, the utility of 
these educational forces. 

Trees, Fruits and Flowers, are usually linked with 
the early associations of childhood ; especially when 
these are in a natural state ; but when cultivated, 
their influence is scarcely less potent. They afford 
ample amusement for them, while their cultiva- 
tion begets a love for the beautiful, at the same time 
that it gives physical employment and forms habits 
of industry. He who plants a tree is said to be a bene- 
factor to his race ; but children, if only allowed to 
indulge their tastes, thus early, not only become public 
benefactors, but they form habits and attachments 
that time will never efface. 

The above comprehends a brief description of some 
of the more important physical educational forces, 
peculiar to the objective period. But it will be 
remembered that whatever of excellence they possess 
in early life, they lose no essential force in subsequent 
periods. Their potency usually increases as the inner 
life becomes developed in man. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Forces. — Intellectually 
considered, the nature and characteristics of these 
supplies are not less varied and striking. For the 
objective or dawning intellect, they are thoroughly 
objective, and suited to its capacity : for the transition, 
they are not less appropriate; and in the subjective, 
the same mutual adaptation is very distinct. ISTot to 
admit this, would be, in effect, to call in question the 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 59 

wisdom and goodness of the Creator. To admit a part 
of it, and not the whole, would be to compromise a 
great and fundamental principle. To doubt the prac- 
ticability of the application of this principle, in the 
education of man, involves an absurdity. 

The first class of these objective forces includes all 
the objects and influences of nature and art that appeal 
to the new-born powers of the mind, more directly 
through the senses. All the external world, with its 
strange and delightful changes, is brought into requi- 
sition here. Those alluded to under physical forces 
are, for the most part, equally well adapted to the 
intellectual wants. Their intellectual force will here 
be shown in connection with others, 

Among the first of these may be classed Color, with 
its endless variety of shadings, from the gorgeous hues 
of the rainbow to the pale blue sky and colorless 
vapor. The blushing morn, the subdued and mellow 
eve, the delicate penciling in flowers, and the varied 
tints in the plumage of birds, the pleasant shades 
of forest green, the meadow, the lawn, the distant 
mountains dressed in their somber hues, — these all 
speak in silent but soft, beseeching language, that 
stirs the feeble pulses of mind, and gives the first 
motions to thought and investigation. They operate 
with a charm upon these newly awakened powers, far 
excelling any of the boasted plans and brain-racking 
theories, too frequently adopted by modern educators. 
But not only color, but Form or outline, as it 
appears in forest trees, the sloping woodlands, the 
winding rivers, the dancing waterfall, the glassy 
lake and overhanging margin, the graceful foliage, 
the exquisite shape of animals and plants and 
flowers, the graceful curves and arches that abound 



00 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

in works of nature and art, the abrupt outline of the 
precipice or the mountain, the ever changing, yet 
ever pleasing circling and eddying in clouds, and bodies 
of water, — all these convey impressions to the mind, 
silent, though they may be, yet so powerful that they 
become the most pleasing themes of contemplation in 
subsequent life. 

And then the endless variety of Sounds, from 
the sighing zephyr to the rushing tornado; from 
the rippling of the brook to the deafening roar 
of the cataract ; from the murmur of the half- 
quiet lake to the thundering crash of waves, when 
the storm- rent Ocean lifts up his voice : from the 
chirping of the cricket at the hearth-stone to the 
deep-toned thunder, the lowing herds, the animated 
voice of pleasure and the hum of business; the singing 
of birds and the sweet strains of music, all move the 
mind's dormant energies, and wake its powers to life 
and activity. 

And then again, Motion, with its thousand tropes as 
exhibited in the animated world, its curves and angles, 
its grace and ease, and beauty, and poetry — these and 
all the external manifestations of nature we have 
named, and ten thousand more, stand as so many 
sentinels on the outposts of science, to awaken and 
delight the incipient mind, and to beckon it on to 
drink of these pure, healthy streams. They invite 
the young body forth to activity, enterprise and manly 
development. They are nature's means for educating 
man. Why then should we interfere with them, when 
they are so obviously in accordance, not only with 
sound philosophy, but with our unbiased inclinations ? 
Why should children be kept confined and shut out 
from all these nobler forms of loveliness, in order that 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. Gl 

fcliey may be educated ? Even supposing the school- 
house or the dwelling to be passable or even elegant, 
does this afford any excuse for the rejection of these 
natural educational forces ? Instead of interfering in 
any degree with the discipline of children, or the 
acquisition of knowledge, even from books and 
teachers, they only prepare the way by opening up 
every avenue of the mind, to the most wholesome 
discipline and the most vigorous development. 

From the above it will be inferred that the natural 
sciences, language, and, we might add, concrete mathe- 
matics are best adapted to the wants of both body and 
mind at this period. Natural sciences, in their simpler 
form open up the way to the mind, and afford 
abundant activity for the body. They give knowledge 
of the physical universe, and acquaintance with the 
beauties and attractions of nature and art. 

Language affords an opportunity to give expression 
to feeling. Its study also cultivates close observation, 
whereby a higher order of thought is awakened. It 
should, however, relate only to the simple and exact 
modes of expression, the beauty, richness and accu- 
racy in description, etc. 

Mathematics, or arithmetical and geometrical ex- 
ercises as they relate to simple, external form and 
proportion, cultivate quickness of apprehension, clear- 
ness and closeness of reasoning and investigation. 
They strengthen and prepare the mind for abstract 
and metaphysical research. 

It must not be inferred from the above that the 
exercises, as they will be described in another place, 
are intended to usurp the place of those in common 
use, so far as the latter conform to sound philosophy. 



02 THE SCIENCE 0* EDUCATION. 

So far from any usurpation, or even an interruption, 
they only excite a laudable interest in them. A child 
who has been taught to observe closely, and whose 
faculties have been trained in this natural process, will 
not only possess keener perception, stronger memory, 
a better understanding and judgment, and a livelier 
imagination, but every emotion of the soul will be 
quickened into healthy activity. Thus an early taste 
for study and habits of accuracy will be formed, which 
will be a basis for subsequent pursuits. It is the 
natural order: and any methods that conflict with 
nature, will check the real progress of the child. 

In every department of the works of the Creator, 
there is the most rigid economy combined with the 
most benevolent designs, and the happiest harmony. 
Man should therefore be very careful how he inter- 
feres with these. 

S Bonos 3 — Moral Forces. — The instruments 
of man's moral and religious culture next claim 
attention. This department of his education, no less 
than all others, is dependent upon antecedent causes, 
subject, for the most part, to his own control. Among 
the first and foremost of these forces, for the objective 
i, may be placed Parental Love, and the family 
and social influer. 

The family seems to be not only the first compact 
or association ordained by heaven, but the one into 
which every human being is, or ought to be. fir^t 
introduced. It is the proper nursery of infant thought 
and infant action. It is the natural home of the child. 
No artificial association should be allowed to usurp its 
place. The parent stands by nature, and by Divine 
appointment, at the head of this social compact; and 



RDUC .FORCES. 

a in his hand.-;, to a great".-, extent than any other, 
the fundamental Ed national Forces of the child. 
; ;ially is this true in a moral and re.:. 3 is sense ; 
for whatever may be the in:-.- act .training of the 
child, and to whomever committed, its moral and 
religious tendencies are generally controlled and 
guided by the home and parental influences. 

w, whatever of influence was attributed to the 
intellectual forces, will justly apply to the moral ; foi 
it is impossible, accor , ig to the well known laws of 
mind, to educate one department of man'- : 
truly, without appealing to all other departme fcs. 
The proper education of the head will always affect 
the heart, and versa. 

This truth can not be too often repeated and too 
carefully inculcated. It is one of the fundamental 
principles, ass aated with right education. By over- 
looking or disregarding it, the ancient world groped 
in darkness ; and the modern educational world has 
run into the wildest vagaries and the strangest 
extreme-. 

But the truth is plain and simple.like all of G 
truth-. Every intellectual force is virtually a moral force. 
So intimately allied are they, that were it not for the 
distinctions which exist in man, as to his moral and 
intellectual qualities, and also, as to the moral and 
intellectual qualities of actions, the two forces would 
mutually blend. 

To illustrate: the child first learns to love and obey 
its parents. This is but a simple act, and yet it 
implies an intellectual act, a moral act. and may 
include a physical act; but not one of them singly 
can be performed, in the true sense, without the 
other. 



64 THE SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 

We might as well talk of nourishing one arm at a 
time, or one leg, or the body without the limbs, by 
simply taking food into the stomach, as to talk of 
educating a man, and not affecting for good or ill, all 
the departments of his nature. 

The affectional nature of the child is the first to 
show signs of development. It goes out, and naturally 
entwines itself about the parent. The manifestations 
may be feeble at first, like all its powers, but under 
proper management it soon acquires strength. The 
mother's soothing voice is the first sound that ad- 
dresses its ear intelligently. The tender, gentle 
embrace, stirs the fountains of love in its soul ; the 
latent affections are moved, and they rise up to meet 
and mingle with her own. How swift and how sweet 
the response thus given ! Here then is the educa- 
tional want. Where are the supplies ? Ay : are they 
not at hand? Do they not exist in a mother's love, 
a father's care, and all the endearing ties of home and 
friends ? Now if those supplies are not cut off or 
poisoned — as is too frequently the case — if they are 
constant, and are judiciously administered, it is easy 
to see how the little heart might be led on, step by 
step, to love, to trust and to obey. 

But Watchfulness, Patience and Firmness are neces- 
sary ingredients in a parent's stock of forces to control 
and direct the growing energies of the Child; watchful- 
ness to detect the first buddings of sinful desires; for 
such is their deceptive nature, that they grow up some- 
times under the immediate eye of the parent, and are 
not unfrequently fostered by fond and doting friends as 
indications of smartness. At other times they mani- 
fest themselves in outbreaking vices, not less to be 
deplored, and seem to summon every demon to their 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 65 

aid. In all these forms, patience must have her perfect 
work. She teaches us to bear the ills of life. Much 
more should she teach us to bear with the wayward- 
ness of children. If their sins are many, the occasions 
and weaknesses that draw them aside, and cause tlium 
to fall, are not less numerous. 

It often becomes necessary, therefore, to interpose 
authority; and in such cases, firmness and unyielding 
integrity are in great demand, in order to check the 
irrational desires, and to turn them into their proper 
channels. The child soon loses confidence in one not 
possessed of these qualifications, and, whatever other 
excellencies he may possess will be taken for less 
than half their real value, in consequence of the 
absence of these qualities. A decision once rendered, 
should not be changed for light causes. 

Children are no less the objects of sympathy than 
they are themselves sympathetic. In all their weak- 
nesses and follies, they not only need the mantle of 
charity to hide their seeming depravity, but they need 
the sympathy of their seniors ; not, by any means, to 
encourage them in crime, but to lift them up from 
weakness and irresolution, to strength and determina- 
tion in the various ways of duty. They need that pro- 
tection from the uncharitable assaults of the world, 
which the home circle alone can afford. They need 
an asylum into which they may retreat from the 
storm and the tempest, with which the sky of youth is 
frequently overcast. 

These trials may all be necessary as discipline ; but, 

at this tender age, unless assistance or protection is at 

hand, the little sufferer bends too often, and sinks 

beneath the load, and the moral powers are bruised 

and broken instead of being strengthened. 
6 



66 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Mother or teacher, stand by your little one, in those 
fearful hours of temptation and strife, and see that the 
world and the passions do not overcome him. A 
moral conquest here is better than the conquest of a 
kingdom ; but a defeat may carry disaster into all the 
chambers of the soul. 

The family and social influences, as educational 
forces to give direction to the moral and religious 
powers of the child, can not be over-estimated. The 
child not only learns to love his brothers and sis- 
ters, and to revere and obey his father and mother, 
as well as love them, but numberless occasions arise 
when it becomes necessary, in the little community, 
that the personal preferences and individual liberty 
of the few, must be sacrificed to the general good. 
Here the child learns to respect the rights of his fel- 
lows, to submit to wholesome restraints, and to ren- 
der cheerful obedience to the properly constituted 
authorities. He thus acquires the feelings and habits 
of a good citizen. And what is true of the family, 
in this respect, is also true of the school, for it should 
be modeled as nearly as possible on the plan of a well 
regulated family. The only essential difference in 
the government is, that in the latter it is generalized, 
and on a larger scale. 

But what a dark picture that family or that school 
presents, where all these moral forces are perverted 
and made to act as so many influences against the 
right development of the moral powers ! What a 
repulsive sight where love is turned to hate, trust to 
jealousy and suspicion, watchfulness to careless in- 
difference, firmness to vacillation and irresolution, 
patience to petulance, sympathy to malevolence, pro- 
tection to neglect, discipline to disorder, and all the 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 67 

social endearments, to so many sources of discontent 
and bitterness ! 

Man's happiness would thus be turned to misery, his 
social ties would be only so many clanking chains, to 
fret and chafe his humor, and to strew his pathway 
with thorns. His cup of connubial bliss would be a 
cup of gall ; and the happiest spot on earth for man 
— his own dear home — would be a hell. 

But we turn from this dark picture to consider the 
educational forces at another and an important period 
in life. 

Article 2— Transition Period. 

It was a remark of a distinguished educator, while 
describing a course of study for high-schools, that 
u a hiatus occurs in the history of every human being 
between the ages of 11 and 15, and that this is ex- 
ceedingly difficult to fill up." In this he refers doubt- 
less to the period of which we are about to speak. 

While we admit that such a period does occur, 
and that its characteristics are distinctly marked, 
yet we can not agree with the learned Dr. when he 
tells us that this period is necessarily more difficult 
to supply than any other. We admit that it is more 
liable to neglect and abuse than any other ; and that 
many who have made shipwreck of their powers, 
may date their ruin back to the incidents occurring 
in this period ; but it no more follows that this is a 
necessary result, than that people should die of hun- 
ger while the land abounds in plenty: or that they 
should fail to become educated in any case, when the 
means for such education are within their reach. 
Because men starve is no proof that there is no food, 
though this would be a sequence, were there nonft 



68 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

It only proves that there is none for them ; or that 
they have not availed themselves of its advantages. 
So in the case before us. Many suffer for want of 
proper supplies, at this period, not because there are 
no such supplies, for this would be charging God 
with neglect ; but because these supplies are not 
brought within their reach. They exist in great 
abundance, but because of their simplicity and uni- 
versality, men are apt to overlook them. They are 
like those common blessings whose visits are so silent, 
so frequent, and yet so necessary, that we forget to 
credit them. 

Section 1 — Physical Forces. — In casting about for 
supplies for the physical wants and powers, we are 
apt to look beyond the real ones, and to select some- 
thing artificial or foreign to their nature. Nature 
offers an abundant supply, and on the most reasonable 
terms. 

We see by reference to chapter second, article 1st, 
that the capacity is very marked ; and that these 
powers, in their semi-educated state, are constantly 
seeking employment. Activity is their essential 
characteristic, and in it they find their chief enjoy- 
ment. But there is great danger of excess. Hence 
the greater need of special direction and control. 
The question then recurs, what are the natural and 
legitimate supplies for these wants ? 

In addition to those enumerated in the Objective 
Period, it will be found necessary to introduce others, 
differing, not so much, perhaps, in kind, as in quan- 
tity and quality. Hence, many of those there enu- 
merated, will be readily exchanged for others, similar 
in kind, but of a higher order. Thus, the toys will 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 69 

be exchanged for farming, mechanical and household 
utensils and implements. Playmates will become 
companions and friends in a truer sense ; co-laborers 
in a higher calling. 

Among the many avocations of life, no one, perhaps, 
is more congenial to man than Agricultural Pursuits. 
They are probably the first that ever engaged the 
attention of the race, and afforded exercise to the 
physical powers : and like all other institutions of 
Divine appointment, they are the most necessary to 
man's existence, and conducive to his happiness. 

They offer better opportunities for full and free 
exercise of all his physical powers, than any others. 
If they have their hardships, they have likewise their 
rewards. If they have their exposures to inclement 
seasons, they have likewise their pure and free atmos- 
phere, freighted with the odors of a thousand flowers. 
It is a matter of astonishment, since this employment 
is at once so congenial and necessary to the human 
race, that so many are inventing ways and means to 
escape from it. 

The earth uncovers her broad bosom, and displays 
her matchless beauty of valley, plain, mountain and 
woodland, and says to her children, " Come, cultivate 
my fields, and I will pour you out a blessing, such 
that your garners shall not be able to contain it." 
" Come, eat of my pleasant fruits, my honey and 
butter, and drink of my wine and milk, and let your 
hearts be glad and rejoice, all your days." And yet 
men will huddle together in crowded cities, and even 
trea I one upon another, that they may get gain. 

It would seem that the inculcation of right views 
upon this subject, would in time correct this abuse. 
"Where, then, is there a better place to begin this 



70 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

inculcation, than in the family and in the school-room ? 

.Next in importance to agricultural pursuits, mav 
he ranked the Mechanic arts and employments. 
These likewise seem necessary for man's subsistence : 
for without them, he would be unable to protect him- 
self against the wrath of the elements, or control the 
forces of nature, so as to accomplish the purposes of 
life. Inventions and machinery, the products of 
genius and labor, stand among the proudest achieve- 
ments of the present age ; and the mechanical em- 
ployments are the nurseries where this kind of genius 
is fostered. Labor is the means by which these 
achievements are wrought out. 

The mechanic arts afford scope for all that is in- 
genious in man, while they cultivate his taste and 
his physical nature. This is more apparent in the 
subjective period than in the transition ; never- 
theless, it has its origin here, since the man is the 
boy first, and the woman is the girl before she is 
the matron. The same is true of the Fine Arts. 
They do not attain any degree of perfection here ; 
yet they exist in an incipient state. Their uses and 
modes of culture will be pointed out in another 
place. 

But " All work and no play would make Jack a 
dull boy." Thus philosophized " Poor Richard ; " and 
every one will allow that his philosophy is sound. It 
is a well established fact that our physical organism 
needs the health-giving influences of Amusement ; 
and children in particular, who have the greatest 
need of it, have an instinctive desire for it. It 
may be said, however, by some cross-grained devotee 
of asceticism, that " So they have for many other 
vices." But before any thing can be made out of 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 71 

this argument, it must be shown that play is a vice, 
which position is untenable. The fact is, the love of 
rational amusement is a virtue, no less to be cultivated 
than the love of innocence and truth, with which it 
stands intimately related : and the desires for vicious 
indulgence are all perverted desires, often so,too, from 
neglect. These legitimate desires exist every- where 
in the animal world, especially with the young ; and 
their rational gratification is always accompanied 
with pleasure. It is only when the} T are not properly 
regulated, that they become sources of mischief. 
Hence Gymnastic and Calisthenic exercises,* since 
these are regulated plays, are best suited to the ac- 
complishment of one of the most obvious designs of 
amusement, viz. : the healthy and symmetrical devel- 
opment of the physical powers. 

And then amusement serves another important pur- 
pose. It rests the body from the fatigue of labor, 
and clears away the cobwebs and clouds from the 
mind, and lets in a bright ray of the real, living 
sunshine of enjoyment. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Forces. — We come now 
to notice the intellectual forces, appropriate for this 
period. 

The supposed "hiatus," alluded to in another place, 
has more of an existence in an intellectual sense, than 
in a physical. But a proper study of man, and of his 
educational forces, will soon discover to the inquirer 

* It should be remembered, however, that unless these last named 
exercises are conducted with strict reference to the objects to be attain- 
ed, they are of but little service. Indeed, they are frequently very 
injurious, owing to excesses and wrong applications. They should, 
therefore, be conducted under the eye and special direction of an accom- 
plished master. 



72 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the vast supplies that have been laid up in store for 
this period. So that the hiatus is more the result of 
our mistakes than otherwise. 

The proper adjustment of the physical forces, will 
not only suggest the proper disposition of the intel- 
lectual ones, but will lead to a juster appreciation of 
such culture, and assist materially in carrying it 
forward. 

As in the objective state, the physical world afforded 
the greatest amount of influence, calculated to awaken 
and develop the thinking powers ; so in the transition, 
the forces are chiefly of a material character. The 
intellectual eyes of the learner, at this period, however, 
are just opening upon the immaterial world, and he 
stands bewildered, while he gazes upon its wonders. 
The physical sciences, properly pursued, lead directly 
to the metaphysical, just as the study of language leads 
to the development of thought. Indeed the physical 
sciences are but the initials or elements of the meta- 
physical. Hence they are first in order of time. All 
things material have antecedents, either material or 
immaterial ; and all actions and effects produced have 
causes. These causes again have their antecedents, 
until all causes are traced back to the great First 
Cause of all things. 

The mind passes by steps from the tangible to the 
intangible, from the material to the immaterial, from 
the simple to the more abstruse. From the well- 
known, it at once sets out in pursuit of the unknown. 
From the effect, it travels back to the cause, and soon 
becomes merged in metaphysical research. At least, 
this is one of its routes of travel, and the one usually 
selected by the learner, in this period. 

The physical sciences, therefore, since they abound 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 73 

in facts, offer the safest medium, through which the 
transition may be made. They are [(leasing and attract- 
ive, and abound in the strange and beautiful. But their 
chief excellence lies in the fact that they are so inti- 
mately related to all the operations of daily life. We 
can scarcely breathe or move without bringing into 
requisition some of the strangest phenomena, and 
awakening in the mind the profoundest curiosity. 
The natural sciences, therefore, seem to be the Divinely 
appointed stepping-stones, which lead from the physic- 
id universe to that universe of mind and spirit into 
which the learner is introduced in his more advanced 
stages. A list of these sciences might here be given, 
were not the circumstances, under which it would be 
necessary to pursue them, so various, as to render 
such a list nothing more than an approximation. 

History and Biography, likewise, hold an important 
place among the educational forces of this period. 
Their descriptive, as well as their objective, nature 
renders them peculiarly appropriate. There is a 
novelty and an interest connected with a w T ell prepared 
history or biography, which perhaps do not exist in 
works of mere fiction. They are strangely attractive 
for that class of mind of which we are now speaking. 
Their chief excellence, however, consists in the nar- 
rative style, their simplicity and the power they 
possess in aw T akening mind, and provoking a desire 
to excel. 

Great care should be exercised, however, in the 
selection of authors. An unholy ambition may be 
fostered here, which will lead to untold disaster. But 
a proper taste for the above named studies, formed in 
early life, w T ould offer a strong barrier to the formation 
of a morbid love of fiction and light reading. It is 
7 



74 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION.' 

not because the mind is more averse to the truth than 
to a lie, that this taste for morbid trash is formed. 
Neither is it because truth lacks any of the essential 
elements of attractiveness ; for it is even stranger than 
fiction ; but it results from overlooking this most 
obvious truth, that our education should begin with 
the heart, and for intellectual advancement^ should 
make use of natural objects first. 

Language is a medium for the communication of 
thoughts, feelings and desires. Its manifestations 
commence with the commencement of being, and they 
can cease only when existence ceases. Viewed in this 
light, it becomes a science which admits of culture, 
and is also an educational force. To none of the 
sources of culture is man more indebted than to this. 
Its elements exist within him, and its capacity in- 
creases with the increase of knowledge. 

Language has been regarded too much as merely 
an objective thing, an outward adorning instead of a 
living, acting principle, whose elements are interwoven 
with the very fibers of thought. There is therefore 
a language of thought, as well as of word and action. 
No other science holds precisely the same relations to 
man, that this one holds. It is not only his medium, 
means and object of culture, but it is used in the 
investigation of every other science, and its study 
should be prosecuted in connection with every other. 

Serious blunders, however, are frequently committed 
in the use of language as an educational force. It 
might, with respect to its meaning, uses, and philo- 
sophy, adopt the classification selected for education 
in general ; viz., objective, transition, and subjective. 
Its first office is — aside from merely making known 
our wants — to give names to objects, actions and 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 75 

qualities. The second is to arrange and combine 
these so as to represent the relations existing among 
them, and to express the ideas suggested and developed 
under modes of culture. The third is to investigate 
the properties of language itself as an abstract or 
metaphysical study. 

This latter department is usually presented first, so 
far at least as any scientific use is made of it ; and this 
is one of the blunders to which allusion is made. The 
child should be allowed to pass through the other 
periods first, and to acquire the meaning and use of 
words and language, before the technicalities are 
arrayed before him. 

Mathematics is an early and constant necessity. It 
is the great staple of the common school. As a disci- 
plinary study, it perhaps has few, if any equals. It 
is similar in some respects to language, in that it 
has several departments which are exactly suited to 
the several wants of the child. Simple numbers and 
counting stand among the first, and correspond to 
names and the meaning of words. The concrete or 
mixed mathematics come next, and are best adapted 
to the capacity of the child in the transition state. 
There is just enough of the objective nature about this 
science, here, to enable the learner, without too great 
an effort of abstract reasoning, to cling to it ; and yet 
enough of the subjective nature to lift the powers up 
into more exalted spheres of thought. It should be 
borne in mind here, that elementary geometry is one 
of the principal and most important and appropriate 
branches of mathematics for this period, and even for 
the one preceding it. 

There is another department of science which has 
a peculiar fitness for this period, It is, perhaps, as 



76 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

much a moral force as an intellectual, and as much 
the result of the combined action of all the sciences, 
as a distinct science. We speak of good manners. 

This period offers peculiar advantages for teaching 
this science; but, in too many instances, it is neglected. 
There is a spurious article, sometimes used as a sub- 
stitute ; but this only aggravates the evil. Good 
manners consist in pure thinking, pure speaking, and 
pure acting. It is, therefore, to a great extent, under 
the control of the teacher and parent, and serves as a 
most potent instrument, in his hand, for the accom- 
plishment of good. 

Section 3 — Moral and Religious Forces. — At no 
period in life are the moral powers in a more critical 
condition than in this. This, perhaps, is not so 
much because their impressibility is any greater, but 
because of the many counteracting influences. The 
period is described briefly in chapter second, article 2, 
section 3. 

The wants here are most paipable, and the condition 
would be most lamentable, were there no means of 
supplying them. But we are not at liberty, for a 
moment, to believe that so gross a blunder could be 
committed even by a wise man, much less by a 
Supreme Being. 

It is our business now to inquire after the moral 
and religious forces, as means of culture. 

Whatever excellence the moral forces described in 
Art. 1, Sec. 3, of this chapter possess, they are all 
thrown into the shade, when compared with one that 
can now be rendered available. We mean the Bible. 
It is not without its force in the objective period ; but 
its sublimer truths, as a general thing, are of such a 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 77 

character, that their full force is not felt, until the 
mind acquires more maturity. If any one should 
inquire, why the Bible possesses such a power, as an 
educational instrument, we would reply that God 
made it, and he made man, having a full knowledge 
of his capacity, and of the best educational forces. 
He therefore made the Bible for the very purposes for 
which we propose to use it, — for the moral and 
religious culture of youth ; and he, knowing all things 
from the beginning, is supposed to have a better 
understanding, as to what is best calculated for this 
purpose, than any merely human tribunal. No creeds, 
or confessions, or human devices, therefore, should be 
allowed to usurp its place. God made mind and 
matter. The one administers to the other. He also 
gave man his Revelation. The design is very obvious. 
Nature and revelation are designed to make man 
wiser, better, happier. This they do, when we allow 
them to act in harmony, as they were designed; and 
when they are properly studied and their precepts 
practiced. 

The Bible has stood the shock of error and falsehood, 
the combined opposition of infidelity leagued with 
darkness, for four thousand years ; and yet its truths 
shine brighter to-day than ever before. Like the oak 
that is buffeted by the storm, these truths have taken 
deeper root in the soil of the human heart, and they 
lift their boughs higher and higher to scatter their 
fruits among the nations of the earth. 

It is not our purpose to enter into a discussion upon 
the authenticity or inspiration of the Bible. We take 
for granted that it is Divine in its origin, and- therefore 
true. We admit also, that there are some truths 
which, from their nature and origin, must be taken— 



78 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

especially at this period — on trust or faith ; for the 
powers of comprehension are too feeble, at their most 
exalted stage of development, to grasp the wisdom and 
foresight of God. 

The Bible abounds in these truths. It often finds 
man struggling with the most difficult problems of 
existence and destiny. It finds him perplexed and 
confounded at the very threshold of science. But 
science and human philosophy are forever impotent to 
the great task of solving man's future destiny and 
happiness. He must needs have, therefore, a higher 
authority, a brighter light, and a surer pilot, an 
infallible guide. The Bible comes to him in these 
periods of doubt and uncertainty, and offers him those 
great moral truths, of a primal and universal nature, 
upon which he may rest his faith and belief with entire 
certainty. These become, to him, not only the basis 
of moral character, but a standard by which all moral 
truths are tested. Without such a basis, he is liable 
to fall a prey to every false doctrine that floats in the 
moral atmosphere. 

The grounds for belief in such truths may at first ap- 
pear weak, the light dim ; but they soon grow strong, 
and the dim nebula is soon resolved by the telescope 
of faith, and reveals, to the astonished soul, stars of 
the first magnitude. These will light his path to more 
exalted conceptions and discoveries in the moral 
universe, until the whole firmament shall glow with 
a radiance before unknown. 

In this period likewise, he is about making a trans- 
fer of his affections, from the objective world, to the 
subjective or spiritual. A thousand phantoms dance 
before him to lure him to doubt, and to win those 
affections from their legitimate sphere. The truths of 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 79 

the Bible step in and ask for belief, and to become a 
guide to the soul in this hour of solicitude. It is just- 
as though God looked down upon the wanderer, 
groping his way in darkness, clinging to this thing 
awhile, and then to that, and said to him, "Here, 
child, is my hand. I know the way through this 
darkness." " It is light further on." " Hold to my 
hand, and you are safe." " My power is omnipotent, 
and there is no contingency for which I have not 
provided." "Would it be wise to ask for evidence 
here, or to question his power and goodness ? Because 
people will not believe, is the very reason they are 
always in the dark. Bible Lessons, therefore, are 
among the first and strongest educational forces ; and 
they may be rendered available in uprooting a false 
belief, and of awakening, correcting and strengthen- 
ing the moral powers of man. 

Maxims and Precepts take a strong hold upon the 
mind at this period. They may be classed with the 
" facts, " in the intellectual forces. Hence, moral 
truth may be readily conveyed through them. And 
nearly allied to these are Biographical and Historical 
sketches, especially when they relate to worthy char- 
acters and events. They not only gratify a thirst for 
the grand and heroic in action, but, when proper 
selections are made, they hold up worthy examples 
for imitation, and establish the heart in virtue. 

But example alone will never make a child heroic 
or virtuous, any more than citing him to an example 
ot extraordinary mathematical powers, would make 
him a mathematician. This may be useful as an in- 
centive, but to make a man mathematical, he must 
practice mathematics. So to make a child benevolent, 
it is not enough to cite an example of this virtue; but 



80 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

to make him heroic, virtuous, or good in any sense, he 
must be practiced in these virtues. 

Religion is a necessity growing out of the relation 
man sustains to his fellow man and to his God. He 
is therefore by nature religious, though his religion 
may be a curse to him. He must worship something ; 
and the more exalted the object of his worship, the 
more exalted his moral powers, and indeed, all his 
powers. Hence it is wisdom to worship the highest 
possible object; and since God himself is the highest, 
the devotion naturally belongs to him. This is look- 
ing at the. subject merely in the light of philosophy. 
Were we to examine it from the common standpoint, 
we should find the obligations vastly increased. 

It is a matter of the profoundest wonder and regret, 
that a man should harbor in his heart any repugnance 
to religion. Religion welds the link severed by sin, 
and unites man again to his God. Who could, ration- 
ally object to this, especially after considering man's 
wretched condition without it, his apostasy from God, 
his father? Religion therefore proposes to reinstate 
man, and to furnish all rational supplies to his moral 
and religious nature. 

Article 3— Subjective Period. 

We come now to notice a new and higher class of 
instrumentalities for the education of man. But 
since these are of a more general character ; and since 
the individual for whom they are intended is sup- 
posed here to have passed the most critical period in 
life, and, for the most part, from under the immediate 
influence of the teacher or parent, — it does not seem 
necessary that any thing more than a mere allusion 
to them be made. 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 81 

Man is described in Chap. II, Art. 3, as having 
arrived at that period when his powers are assuming 
their greatest strength and greatest activity. Of 
course their capacity and wants are changed, and 
they demand an additional, and somewhat different, 
class of forces or supplies. 

Sec 1 — Physical Forces. — Man's physical powers 
are more or less subject to habit ; and are affected by 
antecedent influences. Too much importance can not, 
therefore, be attached to regular and 'periodic labor. 
Man needs some fixed occupation, in which his physical 
powers may find exercise. Unless this is provided, his 
energies, which were made for activity and enterprise, 
will be continually annoying him, and urging him 
into difficulty. DJd parents realize this truth, they 
would not bring up their children in habits of idle- 
ness ; neither would they fail to provide for them 
some fixed and regular physical employment, as well 
as mental, to be pursued in after life as a means of 
securing a livelihood. The young man who is thus 
provided for, is comparatively safe ; while the practice, 
on the part of parents or others, of hoarding up mon- 
ey for children, and anticipating all their wants and 
whims, thus depriving them of the exertion necessary 
to secure their happiness, is only providing for them 
the means of self-destruction. 

What was said in Art. 2, Sec. 1, on the various 
kinds of labor, will apply with equal force here. 
Too much importance can not be attached to a proper 
division of time : — though this subject would come 
more particularly under modes of culture. Man 
is such a creature of habit, that, having once 
thoroughly adopted a course of conduct, it is quite 



82 THE SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 

easy to adhere to it through life. If he would, there- 
fore, merely consider the physical good, he would set 
aside a certain portion of his time for labor, a certain 
portion for recreation, and another for rest. The re- 
creation and rest are just as necessary, in a physical 
sense, as the labor. In addition to these, there are 
certain other exercises which seem necessary. They 
might not at first seem to be physical forces, yet such 
is their influence upon health, and upon physical cul- 
ture generally, that we can not help regarding them 
as such. We refer to audible reading and singing. 
These, in connection with suitable devotional exer- 
cises, as preparatory to taking rest in sleep, will be 
found to exert a magic influence upon the health and 
happiness of man, to say nothing of their moral effects. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Forces. — The intellect- 
ual powers of man at this period are supposed to 
have acquired sufficient strength and vigor to grapple 
with the sterner truths and more occult mysteries of 
science. A proper pursuit of the physical sciences 
will have led to this result. They are the steps 
which lead from Nature up to her Author ; and while 
they reveal wonders which seem too vast for the com- 
prehension of finite minds, they are nevertheless not 
wanting in suggestions and results of a metaphysical 
character, which at once enlist the reasoning powers, 
and lead them to the higher walks of science. Hence 
Mental Sciences, in which these powers are permitted 
to turn their energies in upon themselves, and to trace 
the interesting relation between mind and matter, 
possess strong attractions to one well inducted into 
this period. 

As the field of thought and investigation grows 



EDUCATIONAL FORCES. 83 

wider and more productive, a demand for increased 
facilities of communication arises. Language, in its 
higher departments, therefore, as Philology, Logic 
and Rhetoric, is intimately associated with mental 
science, and affords ample supply for this demand. 

The higher Mathematics reveal to us some of the 
suhlimest truths in nature ; while, at the same time, 
they afford the discipline most needed. 

Philosophy reveals its hidden treasures, and pours 
light in upon the astonished and delighted sense. 

Poetry and the Fine Arts correct, elevate and refine 
the taste, and afford ample scope for the imagination. 

The reasoning powers, not content with bare as- 
sumption, seek for demonstrative evidence of the 
great truths of Revelation ; and are delighted to find 
that, in Evidences of Christianity, they are all corrob- 
orated by the most conclusive testimony. 

His country and his fellow men have claims upon 
the man. Law and Civil Polity expound the nature 
of these claims, and lead to a proper appreciation of 
his civil and political rights and obligations. Thus it 
will be observed that every want is provided for in this, 
the most exalted sphere of man's intellectual powers. 

Section 3 — Moral Forces. — Moral Science spreads 
out her truths and propositions, and invites to inves- 
tigation. Ethics explains the principles that should 
regulate human conduct, defines man's social position, 
and lays down a code of laws to govern him in his 
actions. But whatever may be said of the value of 
these sciences as educational forces, the Bible is the 
grand text-book, both in morals and in religion. From 
it the excellencies of all forms of government, and of 
every system of true religion, have been derived. At 



84 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

this stage of man's growth, it either becomes a stone 
of stumbling, a rock of offense, or a beacon light to 
pilot him to the skies. 

Biblical and Natural Theology, Psychology, and 
all that relates to God or the soul, are studies in which 
the mind finds special pleasure, and the moral powers 
gather additional strength. 

True, most and indeed all the last named studies 
afford food for the intellectual powers. This is not only 
true of every other science, but it is in accordance 
with the doctrine heretofore taught, that those sciences 
best calculated for the culture of the moral and 
religious nature are either the best in themselves, or 
lead to the best ones for the cultivation of the intel- 
lectual powers ; and that the very best for the culture 
of man's moral and intellectual nature, always point 
with unerring certainty to those exercises best suited 
for the culture of the body. So that we are safe in 
drawing the inference that our minds, souls and bodies 
were made to dwell together in this state of existence 
without conflict, and to be united in the happiest 
harmony hereafter. 

What a glorious truth ! What a sublime view it 
gives of the true science of education ! Into what 
utter insignificance all the trifling plans and half-way 
modes of culture sink, when compared with the true 
mode. They fade as the light of the moon or stars 
before the beams of the rising sun. Let us be thank- 
ful, therefore, to the gracious Giver of every good and 
perfect gift, that he has thus created us and all our 
surroundings in the most wonderful harmony, and 
with the most evident design of making us happy 
here and hereafter. 



m 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



SYNOPSIS TV. 



r Eegularity in diet. Judicious supplies. Peri- 

Physical. -j odical rest. Sleeping. Bathing, etc. Exer- 

L cise in open air. Object 



r Opportunity for observation of things, etc. Ex- 
- OBJECTIVE, -j Intellectual. -{ perimenting. Describing. Acquiring. Learn- 
l ing to think. Numbering. Counting. 

r Sympathizing with children in trials, etc. 
oral. -I Commands given in firm but gentle tones. 

L Practice of deeds to inspire confidence. 



r Moderate exercise in manual labor. Military 
Physical. -\ drill. Culture of form. Graceful movement. 

I Riding. Walking, etc. 



J TRANSITION.-! Intellectual 



_Mc 



Interrogative methods of recitation. Prac- 
ticing. Semitopical methods of reciting. 
Applying. Didactic methods of reciting. 
Describing. 

r Kindness in administering reproof. Practice 
i 
-J of moral duties and obligations. Inspiring a 

I, love for the true, the beautiful, etc. 



I SUBJECTIVE. 



r Moderation in the pursuit of business. Labor- 
r Physical. -! ing periodically. Recreating. Practice of 

I manly sports. Physical prowess. 

r Topical methods of reciting. Analyzing. Di- 
i 
Intellectual, -j dactic methods of reciting. Generalizing. 

t Independent methods of reciting. Criticising. 



rStudy of Creation. Life duties. Study of 

J anthropology. Teaching. Study cf iDspira- 
■ 
l^ tion. Exercise of faith 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 87 



CHAPTER IV. 

EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 

A general description of the educational processes 
is all that will be attempted in this chapter, since the 
special modes have received careful consideration 
under the head of School-room Duties, in the Author's 
treatise on The Art of Teaching. 

It is thought, however, that a brief explanation of 
the accompanying diagram of Processes and Modes 
might be of service in the following manner: 

1. It would show the adaptation of means to the 
ends to be accomplished, throughout every department 
of education. 

2. It would show the possibility and practicability 
of classification in this, as well as in any other science. 

3. It would lead to a more careful examination of 
the subject by the teacher, and a more rigid applica- 
tion of these principles in the education of the young. 

With this hope, we proceed at once to remark that 
the teacher, thus far, is supposed to have acquainted 
himself with the educational capacity and wants of the 
pupil ; also with the nature and design of the educa- 
tional forces and supplies ; and now he is to inves- 
tigate the modes of application. 

While much that relates to these modes of appli- 
cation has, doubtless, been inferred from tte discussions 



88 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

of the two preceding topics -nevertheless, they consti- 
tute, independently, no small share of the teacher's 
professional qualifications. They would fall under 
special didactics, were it not that they have, specifically, 
a theoretical character which we proceed to notice. 

Article 1— Objective Period. 

By reference to chapters second and third, and by 
a brief comparison of Capacity and Force, it will be 
seen that for every rational desire or want, whether 
physical, intellectual or moral, there is supposed to 
exist an appropriate supply. This truth is so palpable 
and so general, that it needs no argument or illustra- 
tion. But the fact we now wish to impress upon the 
minds of parents and teachers is, that these supplies 
are often misdirected, and rendered not only useless, 
but injurious, simply from a want of knowledge and 
skill in managing them. The benevolent designs of 
the Creator are often thus thwarted by our stupid- 
ity, and his wisdom and goodness will seem to have 
been expended in vain ; for of what service, for 
instance, would food, and the materials for clothing 
be, if man knew not how to use them, or, knowing, 
if he abused them? Or of what service would be any 
of the countless blessings God has bestowed upon his 
children, if he had left them without the means of 
discovering their design and application ? They 
would become curses to them, while their wants 
would mock and tantalize them. And scarcely less 
ruinous do they become when, through neglect or 
obstinacy, they refuse to appropriate them to their 
proper uses. 

Is it not true, that men do actually starve in the 
midst of abundance, either from the want of knowl- 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 89 

edge, inclination or the means to procure supplies ? 
But those isolated cases are by no means the ones 
most to be deplored. It is the improper use of these 
supplies and educational forces, that has filled the 
land with groans and suffering. These irregularities 
and abuses most frequently take their rise in causes 
least suspected by the young and inexperienced. Here 
again would appear the necessity for parents and 
teachers; and that these possess the requisite knowl- 
edge and skill, to direct the education of those com- 
mitted to their care. 

The education of the human being begins with the 
beginning of his existence ; and it may not be inap- 
propriate to say, that it will end only with his exist- 
ence ; or in other words, will never end. 

Section 1 — Physical Processes. — The child's edu- 
cation is first pnysical, so far at least as it falls 
under our observation and control. The first object 
therefore, would be to regulate the physical forces. 
These, in the brute creation, are regulated, for the 
most part, by instinct. Not so with the human ani- 
mal. His first hours are spent with those supposed 
to have reason and experience. Where these are 
wanting or defective, he always suffers. His educa- 
tion being first physical, or mainly so, his physical 
habits should first receive attention. One of the first 
of these, and perhaps the first, after due attention to 
clothing, is to regulate the child's diet. How many 
unreasonable desires are engendered here, and how 
many whims begotten, by unwisely and inconsider- 
ately yielding to and gratifying the imaginary wants 
of childhood ! Keason and judgment should be eyes 

to the passions or affections, for these latter are stone- 
8 



90 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

blind. They are born blind. Were their impulses 
blindly followed, they would in many eases lead to 
the destruction of the child. These wants of child- 
hood, real or imaginary, thus injudiciously gratified, 
breed new desires; and these again multiply, until 
the brood overruns the bounds of all reason, and 
the whole being becomes a mass of misery and 
suffering; 

Mothers, and those having charge of young children, 
should therefore regulate their diet with regard to 
frequency, as well as to quantity and quality. The 
too common practice of keeping their stomachs dis- 
tended to their utmost capacity, either through ex- 
cessive kindness or to gratify their whims, is a fruitful 
source of mischief, both to body and mind. And the 
evils are greatly aggravated when children are allowed 
to indulge their appetites upon highly seasoned dishes 
or confectionery. Is it any wonder that children, 
under this regime, become fretful, passionate, stupid, 
filthy and diseased ? The stomach and digestive ap- 
paratus stand in as great need of occasional and, we 
might add, periodical relaxation, as do any other 
physical powers. 

But this subject,, in detail, is one of too great length 
to admit of a full discussion here. It covers, in fact, 
a great part of the subject of hygiene. We must 
therefore beg the reader to consult this science for 
the detail upon diet, as well as upon sleeping, bathing 
and kindred exercises. 

Exercise in the nursery and in the open air, is of 
so much importance, however, as to demand a mere 
passing notice. A large share of the peevishness and 
irritability of children, might be prevented by attend- 
ing to their wants — not their whims — in this respect. 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 91 

Instead of feeding them on cakes and candies to keep 
them quiet, a better way would be, most generally, to 
give them healthy and appropriate exercise in the 
open air, which would bring into play those little 
muscles, bones and nerves, whose inactivity is the 
chief cause of the uneasiness. 

Again : children are anxious to learn the names, 
qualities and uses of things. They must, therefore, 
as far as possible, be brought in contact with them ; 
and this seems to be the chief employment and delight 
of young children. It affords an agreeable exercise, 
when properly directed, and an excellent substitute 
for that mischief which becomes so annoying to 
mothers. 

This exercise might be arranged in the form of 
Object Lessons, in which names of objects, their quali- 
ties and uses, might be connected with the sports and 
amusements of the young; and this need not occupy 
as much of the mother's time as is usually spent in 
watching them, scolding them, and repairing damages 
committed by them. 

But it must be borne in mind that in order to render 
any and all of these exercises and processes highly 
beneficial, they must be periodical, and their practice 
regulated and continued until the habits are formed 
and fixed. They thus become a kind of second nature, 
and proceed without any special effort. But with 
these hasty suggestions we leave this part of the sub- 
ject, to notice briefly, 

Section 2 — Intellectual Processes. — With a bare 
mention of a few general principles and directions 
illustrative of the " chart,'' the reader is referred to 
Chapter Sixth, " Intellectual Culture," for a more 



92 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

extended view of this subject; and to the Art of Teach- 
ing for the particular mode of study, recitation, etc. 

As we have already remarked, children's first 
lessons are taken from their surroundings. These 
have been described. Their opportunities for obser- 
vation, therefore, should not be circumscribed. The 
practice of confining the young to one apartment, not 
only proves very irksome to them, but deprives them 
of one of the chief sources of intellectual culture. 

Their powers of observation are usually very active, 
if not accurate, and constitute the chief means of 
acquiring knowledge. Therefore, let their eyes feast 
upon the beautiful in nature and art, and their ears 
be saluted with their harmonies. 

The next step, and the one usually associated with 
observation, is that of experimenting with objects for 
the purpose of testing their qualities and ascertaining 
their uses. While the objects and exercises, to which 
young children are exposed, should not be so numerous 
and diversified as to distract their minds, or weary 
their feeble energies, yet they should be sufficiently 
numerous to afford that pleasing variety which their 
desires for novelty rationally demand. 

At this period one of the greatest necessities belong- 
ing to childhood, arises; to wit: a want of suitable 
terms to express the ingathered stores of observation 
and experiment. Language is the demand. 

One of the best means of cultivating the expressive 
powers, is to give frequent opportunities to children 
to relate their little experiences, and to describe the 
objects and actions which have fallen under their no- 
tice, observing to correct any inaccuracies and exagger- 
ations that may arise. The imagination, or rather the 
fancy, may get the advance of judgment and discretion ; 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 93 

and, unless watched carefully, children will form the 
habit of falsifying, or omitting important points in 
narrative, without realizing the enormity of the offense. 

The practice of describing frequently and accurately, 
is useful, not only in the manner indicated above, but 
also as being one of the surest and most rapid methods 
of acquiring. In teaching, it is always best to encourage 
the child to tell all it knows, as a means not only of 
ascertaining its capacity and advancement, but as the 
best mode of inducing thought. It gives comparative 
accuracy, point and direction to the thinking powers, 
and renders the acquisitions much more easy and 
certain. 

One of the first things to be done in intellectual 
training, is to accelerate and facilitate the early proc- 
esses of thinking. Children, in the majority of cases, 
have not the ability to confine their thinking powers, 
and therefore need this aid in their early efforts, just 
as the child beginning to walk, needs aid in that 
exercise. 

Among the many obstacles to successful thinking, 
weakness or want of mental force is one. This weak- 
ness sometimes arises from want of development, and 
at other times it is constitutional inaptitude. Another 
obstacle is mental aberration or want of concentration, 
which, by the way, is a species of weakness. Another 
is the formation of superficial and inattentive habits. 

Most of these hindrances may be regarded as a 
species of disease, subject, however, to the control of 
the master; and they must all be removed before any 
successful study or thinking can be done. The best 
method of removing them, however, is the formation 
of right habits. The exercises used for the cure of 
these weaknesses, serve to establish their opposites. 



94 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Special methods for overcoming these difficulties and 
of establishing correct mental habits, will be described 
in the Art of Teaching, Chapter Second — Study. 

Section 3— Moral Processes. — The moral treat- 
ment of children is a matter of extreme delicacy and 
care. A little mistake committed here often leads to 
great mischief. Their natures, susceptible of the 
slightest impression, can be molded into almost any 
shape the hand of the parent or teacher may chance 
to direct. "Warm, ardent and unsuspecting, their 
belief and practices are subject to the almost un- 
bounded control of their superiors. They are not, 
however, without their little griefs and sorrows, trials 
and temptations. These are not always appreciated 
by their elders. They are apt to be treated as trifles, 
and as unworthy of attention, simply because they 
happen to be viewed from a different, and it may be, 
a higher, stand-point. They, however, exist, and have 
upon the child the same effect that trials of a greater 
magnitude have upon children of a larger growth ; and 
so with their labors and sports and other employments. 
These, to them, are what the genuine life-duties are 
to the adult, and are evidently sent before to prepare 
them for the sterner realities which must follow. 
They should therefore be treated with some consid- 
eration. 

Nothing, perhaps, gives the teacher greater power 
over the child, either for good or for evil, than the 
exercise of sympathy with him in his joys or sorrows, 
in his labors and enterprises. We do not mean that 
he should descend to the same level with the child, or 
that he should indulge him in all or any of his whims. 
These he should correct. But we mean simply, that 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 95 

he should not disregard this educational want, but 
make use of it for the moral e-levation of the child. 
The very existence of it, and the activity of these 
feebler moral powers, constitute the occasion for such 
treatment, while their neglect may lead to ruin. 

Again : children are to be controlled ; but how sad 
the abuse of this power! They are too frequently 
scolded and beaten in such a manner that they lose 
their self-respect and self-control ; and come, by-and- 
by, to believe that they are the veriest vipers that 
ever crawled; and, to be consistent, they strive to be 
all they are taken to be. If there is one thing, in the 
treatment of children, that is of no possible benefit, 
or has not one redeeming quality; if there is 
one sin that is without excuse, and, for wickedness, 
almost without a parallel ; one that is more offensive 
than all others, — that sin is passionate scolding. It is 
out of place every w^here. We venture the assertion 
that there never was an occasion, in all the education 
of a child, that rendered a resort to this practice nec- 
essary. It is purely gratuitous, and purely demoniac. 
Its effects upon the moral nature of the child are sad 
beyond comparison, It poisons every stream of hap- 
piness ; it deadens every generous impulse; it destroys 
moral confidence; and discourages every high and 
noble aspiration. In fact, it is not only without its 
uses, but, for fruitful sources of evil, it is almost with- 
out any equal. Hence all commands should be given 
in firm but gentle tones. There are frequent occasions, 
however, in which it becomes necessary for the teach- 
er to point out the shortcomings and vices of children 
in a very decided, and it may be, earnest manner ; 
but can not this be done without resort to that tirade 
of abuse and faultfinding, which make up the sum 



96 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

total of scolding ? Can not all the vices, to which chil- 
dren are addicted, be pointed out in a calm, dispas- 
sionate, yet earnest and loving manner? If there 
ever was a call for calmness, it is certainly here ; and 
if they can not thus be pointed out, it will surely 
aggravate them to resort to abuse. 

There is yet another mode of appealing to the 
moral nature of children, that claims a brief notice 
here. We mean the practice of those deeds of truth- 
fulness and strict honesty in their presence, that will 
inspire their confidence and their love for the truth. 
Children should never be deceived, either by word or 
deed. They never should hear or practice a lie. 
They would then learn to fear and abhor it and kin- 
dred evils. But the practice of deceit and hypocrisy 
in their presence, has not only a tendency to destroy 
their confidence in the integrity of others, but leads 
them to practice the same vices themselves. The 
occasions on which this temptation arises, are very 
numerous. The child, for example, is often induced 
to comply with the wishes of the parent or teacher, 
without knowing the motives and means made use of, 
to secure such compliance. But the probability is, 
that he will find out some time ; and then what a low 
estimate w T ill he set on moral honesty ! And some, 
again, have come to think that deceit may be practiced 
with impunity, provided a desirable object may be 
accomplished by it. Hence they govern on the prin- 
ciple of craft. They deceive their children into un- 
willing submission, esteeming it sufficient if the thing 
desired is done, without taking into account the 
means employed. Now the manner of obedience is 
often of greater moment than the obedience itself, or 
the object accomplished by it. " Behold, to obey is, 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 97 

better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of 
rams," was Samuel's righteous sentence to a faltering 
and disobedient king ; and the sequel shows the enor- 
mity of the sin of disobedience, as well as in what it 
consists. It is a safe rule, therefore, to practice noth- 
ing, in the presence of children, which would have 
a tendency to impair their confidence in you, or which 
you would not be willing should appear in them, as a 
part of their moral character. 

Article 2— Transition Period. 

We come now to notice the educational processes, 
appropriate to that period in life when the faculties 
are in a condition of change, or when the change is 
going on most rapidly. 

The peculiarities and susceptibilities of these facul- 
ties have been briefly described under the head of 
" Educational Capacity," Chapter Second, Article 2 ; 
and their supplies under the head of "Educational 
Forces," Chapter Third, Article 2. It now remains 
to discuss briefly the modes of treatment, reserving 
the special applications for the Art of Teaching. 

Section 1 — Physical Processes. — Many of the 
modes and exercises, prescribed for the objective 
period, will have their full force here, varied slightly 
however, to suit the nature of the wants. 

Moderate exercise in manual labor, though an old- 
fashioned, and by some, almost forgotten practice, 
is nevertheless one of the surest and safest modes of 
securing healthy physical development, that ever was 
invented. Indeed, it can scarcely be said to be in- 
vented, since it always existed as a necessity. It 
can not therefore be laid aside without injury. We 
9 



98 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

venture the assertion, that if this one simple practice 
were persistently followed, in the education of chil- 
dren, they would be delivered from untold woes, mis- 
eries, vices, bad habits and bad health. Idleness is 
the parent of vice ; and vice strikes at the very root 
of social order and happiness. The faculties at this 
age — and indeed at every other — seek, yea, demand 
activity and employment. If this demand is not 
heeded, supplies will be sought from such quarters, 
and in such a manner, as to bring with them habits 
and diseases that will poison the very fountains of 
health and happiness. 

The importance of labor of various kinds, as the 
means of securing the healthiest development of all 
the physical powers, has been alluded to in several 
places. Its objects, as an educational force, are often 
defeated, however, by injudicious management. To 
be effective, either as a profitable or as a healthy exer- 
cise, it must, for this period especially, be periodical, 
and not too severe or too long continued. Its purposes 
as an educational instrumentality, are not answered 
by working hard for a few days, weeks, or even 
months, and then refraining for as long, or even a 
longer time, any more than the purposes of eating and 
sleeping are answered by adopting a similar course 
with them. All the exercises should be periodical, 
and all the habits regulated, if we would render 
them useful. 

The effects of too severe and long-continued labor 
at an early age, are most strikingly exhibited in the 
miserable sickly condition of children in the mines 
and factories of Great Britain ; and man} 7 in the United 
States and other countries suffer from similar causes. 
Their powers, too heavily taxed, fail to attain their 



EDUCATIONAL PKOCESSES. 99 

full development, but hasten into an unhealthy matu- 
rity, and as rapidly decay. 

But labor alone, let it be ever so wisely arranged, 
does not accomplish, for the child of this age, all that 
is desirable. Unless the exercises are varied, there 
is constant danger of imposing too much on some of 
the powers, while others may be suffering for want of 
a due supply. Hence the many instances of crooked 
and deformed persons among the laboring classes. 

For a school exercise, the Military Drill, or some- 
thing similar to it, as practiced in some of our best 
schools, is an excellent means of correcting many of 
these abuses. It gives the child command over his 
physical powers, and promotes promptness and precis- 
ion in his movements. It cultivates the erect posture 
and manly form, and prevents, in a measure, the for- 
mation of those slovenly and disagreeable habits, so 
liable to be contracted at this age. 

The practice in graceful movement of the body, 
such as is usually secured in a calisthenium, or, where 
this advantage is not enjoyed, such as may be adopted 
in any school or family, will be found useful in fur- 
nishing to girls the advantages which the boys enjoy 
in the drill or gymnasium. The bodies of girls need 
as much active exercise as those of the boys, though 
differing somewhat in kind. Indeed there seems to 
be a greater necessity, in their case, for special 
arrangements, since their modes of life, and kinds of 
employment, do not afford them the advantages which 
boys have. 

The practice of making the physical training of 
youth — as far, at least, as it relates to their bodily 
movements — a part of their family and school educa- 
tion, would not only prevent the contraction of dis- 



100 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

eases and physical suffering, but it would supersede 
the supposed necessity of employing a dancing-mas- 
ter, and the evils and miseries arising from com- 
mitting this part of the education of children to the 
hands of those who are too frequently destitute of the 
first principles of sound morality. 

Riding, either on horseback or otherwise, walking, 
rowing, etc., etc., are healthy exercises; but to be ren- 
dered most serviceable, they should be conducted under 
the direction of a master ; since many of these phys- 
ical exercises are rendered useless, and in some in- 
stances positively hurtful, for the want of proper skill 
in managing them. But more particular directions 
will be given in the Art of Teaching. 

Section 2 — Intellectual Processes. — The modes of 
intellectual culture are so numerous and well known, 
that we shall only allude to a few of the more general 
and important principles involved in them. 

They should differ from those of the objective 
period in the following particulars : 

1. They should cover a wider field; and should 
address the faculties of the understanding and judg- 
ment more directly. 

2. They should cultivate the habits and powers of 
independent thinking and acting. 

3. They should cultivate the expressive powers, and 
originality, as they relate to descriptions and the uses 
of knowledge. 

Hence the Interrogative, Semitopical, and Analytic 
methods of recitation may be used here, as well as 
corresponding modes of study, etc. 

The first is the one most appropriate in the objective 
period, but should not be entirely abandoned here. 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 101 

The topical method is the one most appropriate for 
the subjective period, since it throws all the labor of 
recitation, etc., upon the pupil, he being at an age 
when helps are unnecessary. But in the transition 
period, the pupil is supposed to be in a state in which 
he requires both the assistance of the questions in 
recitation, etc., and also of the topics, — the one to 
enable him to stand, the other to induct him into the 
more independent modes of investigation. 

It will be remembered, however, that these princi- 
ples and directions are general ; and that, while they 
will be found true in the main, many seeming excep- 
tions will arise. 

Section 3 — Moral Processes. — It is a well estab- 
lished fact that discipline is a necessary ingredient in 
the education of man; that without it, he would be an 
untamed animal, a fit associate for wild beasts and 
Ravages. His powers would be of little service to 
himself, or any of the race. 

The period in which we are now considering man, 
in a moral and religious point of view, is one of 
decided interest. If there is one period in the educa- 
tion of the child, in which he needs the special guid- 
ance of mother, father or teacher, it is this. His 
moral powers are just now assuming that shape and 
direction whic'h are to give character to the man ; at 
the same time, they are beset on all sides by tempta- 
tion, and are struggling against a host of evil influences, 
that break in upon them from every quarter. These 
unassisted powers, for the most part, are unequal to 
bear the severity of this rude shock, and they often 
fall an easy prey to vice. 

There is 710 period, either, in which the desire to 



102 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

throw oft' parental restraint is so strong. The boy of 
eleven or sixteen thinks it unmanly to obey his mother ; 
and the little miss puts on airs that would do credit (?) 
to the maid of forty. But w r holesome discipline will, 
in the majority of cases, ward off these evils, and will 
make use of these temptations to strengthen the moral 
powers. This discipline may be derived from various 
sources, and may apply alike to the moral, intellectual 
or physical powers. We propose to speak of but two 
sources, together with modes of administering and 
receiving it. 

1. Parental discipline and influence. 

2. That wdiich is derived from other sources. 
Obedience is an obligation due from the child to the 

parent, no less in this period than in the preceding 
one. This will be admitted by all except those who 
run wild upon new theories and new doctrines. 

We shall not stop, therefore, to discuss either the 
grounds or the nature and extent of this obligation. 
It is enough for our purpose to know that it exists, and 
that it is one of the first and most important lessons 
to be learned by the child. There are, in a popular 
sense, two kinds of obedience, the voluntary and the in- 
voluntary. The voluntary is the genuine; but it often 
happens that we are compelled to resort to the latter 
as an expedient to secure the former. But it never 
should be relied upon. It is only a substitute, to be 
thrown aside whenever the genuine can be made to 
take its place. Hence when requests are made, orders 
issued or commands given (all these forms are admis- 
sible, but not all under the same circumstances), it 
may be necessary to resort to the latter first, in order 
to maintain authority ; but the whole transaction, 
request and all, should, if possible, be repeated for the 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 103 

purpose of securing the willing obedience ; for that is 
not really obedience which is performed unwillingly. 
It is forced submission rather. Many mistake the 
means for the end, however, and satisfy themselves 
with mere submission, while the heart may be in a 
state of absolute rebellion. To leave it in that con- 
dition, is to cultivate a cowardly, morose and treach- 
erous disposition. 

What wonder then that so few obey from proper 
motives ; or that deceit, treachery and falsehood every- 
where abound, when so little genuine obedience is 
secured in childhood ! 

Kindness in administering reproof or correction is 
indispensable in right moral training. Like produces 
its like, no less in the moral world, than in the physical. 
The parent or teacher is apt to arouse the same spirit 
in the child, he manifests himself. Perhaps no greater 
abuse obtains any where in dealing with children than 
at this very place. The vindictive spirit is so apt to 
manifest itself, that many are incapable of adminis- 
tering reproof or punishment, without yielding them- 
selves to its control. And then again, some think it' 
not worth while to act, so long as their wrath is not 
kindled ; and therefore, always wait until it reaches 
the exploding point, before they open the battery ; and 
then, woe to the luckless wight that happens to be the 
object of vengeance ! 

Now, it is needless to say this is all wrong. It 
would be wrong in the management of dumb animals; 
much more then, in the management of children. 

2. That discipline which is derived from other 
sources, will now claim attention. The willing and 
cheerful obedience, rendered in early life, the lessons 
of submission and privation there learned fit man for 



104 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the life-struggle which awaits him in the world. They 
give him power to conquer his enemies, having first 
subdued the worst one he will he likely to meet, viz., 
himself, a foe, too, with whom few, if any, can grapple 
single handed. But if discipline be administered in 
kindness, though it be severe, and if we are taught 
that it comes from the hand of our best friend, and 
that it is inflicted for our good, it will not arouse those 
vindictive and rebellious feelings, but rather their 
opposites ; and we can look up in meek submission 
and bless the hand that afflicts us. 

This spirit will ease the pain of affliction, and will 
mitigate much of the rigors of punishment, making it, 
even for the present, joyous and not grievous. This 
is the kind of discipline that should be exercised in 
our families and schools, to prepare their inmates to 
meet these trials ; for meet them they must, since they 
are but the common lot of humanity. Why not then 
prepare for them at a time when the severity of the 
strokes may be lightened by parent or teacher. It will 
be too late in most cases to begin when these days and 
advantages are past. " In time of peace, prepare for 
war," was a wise maxim given by a distinguished 
statesman, and which is not without its bearing upon 
this subject. In time of youth prepare for life; in 
time of life prepare for death ; for it is only after 
this period that life's harvest is gathered, and we 
begin to live in earnest. 

Again : the practice of moral and religious duties 
and obligations, as the surest means of developing 
moral power, is a subject of such importance,- as to 
compel a passing notice here, though its practical 
bearings will be reserved for another place. VTe pass 
it therefore, with this single remark, that all the 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 105 

moral precepts and examples combined, and enforced 
with the most scrupulous care, can never equal the 
actual practice of these duties by the children them- 
selves. There is a tangibility, a force, a meaning and 
a power about them, when practiced by the children 
themselves, which take right hold of the heart and 
habits, and make them feel what moral elevation 
there is in doing good. They learn from their own 
experience, from their own feelings, that " it is 
more blessed to give than to receive ; " and that it 
is better to do a good deed, than to theorize on 
goodness. 

Another mode of moral culture claims a word of 
explanation ; i. e., the process of inspiring a love for 
the Beautiful, the True and the Good. This love of 
the beautiful etc., is an innate affection. It usually 
commences with objective beauty, and advances 
through all the stages, until the full development of 
the subjective. There is usually an exact corre- 
spondence between the outer and the inner world, 
between the objective and the subjective. The ob- 
jective, if properly directed, leads into the subjective. 
The cultivation of objective beauty not only indicates 
the degree of subjective development, but will, when 
the powers are well regulated, constitute the very best 
and most direct means of cultivation. Thus : if a 
boy has been taught to love a rose, for instance, and 
really to appreciate the outer forms of beauty and 
purity, his inner nature seeks their counterparts; he 
will therefore more easily be taught to love the truth 
and the morally beautiful, since these are counterparts 
of the former. Ugliness and deformity are begotten 
of depravity, and are fit accompaniments of vice and 
vulgarity. Hideousness and a lie are both born of 



106 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the same parents, and are both monsters. They are 
inseparable companions, notwithstanding falsehood 
and deceit may dress themselves in angel garbs, as 
they most frequently do ; but this only renders " their 
deformity more deform. " They are unlovely and 
unloved, save by corresponding natures. But on the 
other hand, goodness, mercy, peace, purity, humility, 
honesty, integrity and every christian virtue are the 
legitimate offspring of all that is morally beautiful 
arid sublime, and the inseparable associates of all that 
is really beautiful in nature and art. It is the prov- 
ince of education to develop these forms of beauty, 
and to regulate the outer and inner world, so that 
these elements of living, loving beauty and truth, 
shall assimilate and form one grand and harmonious 
system of loveliness. 

Article 3— Subjective Period. 

The Subjective Processes next claim attention. 
Here, as in the case of the instrumentalities, there 
seems to be but little necessity for special directions. 
The individual is supposed to be passing beyond the 
more immediate influence of the family and school. 
He is now coming forth to take his stand beside his 
fellows, in the battle of life ; and the great problem, 
whether he shall lose or win, is about to be solved. 
He becomes a man of business ; for if he is educated, 
there will be no margin left for inglorious ease, or 
vile and sensual pleasure. 

He is still, however, a mortal man, a physical, in- 
tellectual and moral being : and these qualities are 
now assuming a decided and positive character. They 
are not therefore, without special interest ; and in 
order to preserve them in as perfect a state as possible, 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 107 

and to transmit them unimpaired to posterity, they 
demand special treatment. 



Section 1 — Physical Processes. — In addition to 
what has been suggested in another place, as appro- 
priate to physical processes, others of a higher order 
might now be introduced, in view of the new relation- 
ship sustained. Business, therefore, becomes a pur- 
suit. The physical powers are supposed to have been 
trained to some avocation, in which they will be called 
upon to act in one capacity or another. The danger 
is, therefore, where the business is of such a character 
as to demand physical labor, that, in the outset, since 
the desire for success is usually so great, the demand 
made upon these powers will be greater than they 
can satisfy, without sustaining an injury. Modera- 
tion, therefore, in the pursuit of business, becomes 
necessary to success. Indeed, moderation is necessary 
every- where, but chiefly here. Labor becomes a 
drudgery if this precaution is not observed ; and that 
which was intended as a blessing for man, becomes 
a curse. Of course, this precaution would be uncalled 
for in the case of those drones in society, whose ex- 
cessive moderation excels their wisdom. But these 
cases are exceptions, involving the condition of those 
who may be laboring under the disease of laziness, 
the removal of which will depend much upon its 
character and the remedies employed. 

Again : Moderation in the pursuit of business will 
be most likely to cultivate the same virtue in the 
desires and modes of life. Extravagance is the bane 
of social happiness. It has filled the world with mis- 
ery. It is an irregularity that strikes at the very root 
of the tree of domestic peace. It entails wretchedness 



108 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

upon what might otherwise be happy families. It is 
a fruitful source of intemperance, bankruptcy and 
villainy. It can only be corrected by adopting its 
opposite. 

But the physical powers yield willingly, nay gladly, 
to whatever reasonable demands are made upon 
them, provided they are informed in due time, so as 
to make preparation ; or, in other words, provided the 
habit is formed. Hence, here, as in other periods, 
labor should be periodical. This will not only render 
it more pleasant, but more profitable. When this 
habit is once thoroughly established, these powers 
will not ask to be released, but will always mani- 
fest uneasiness until they are permitted to return 
to their accustomed employment. This is proved 
by the experience of thousands. 

But how miserable is that poor wretch who has 
nothing to do ! His own physical energies tormenting 
him, his conscience goading him, and a world of labor 
upbraiding him, no wonder that he seeks, in dissipa- 
tion, to drown these unwelcome visitations. Out 
upon all such vagabonds, wherever found; whether 
they crawl amid the slime and filth of poverty, 
or cling like leeches to the living body of indus- 
try, or wallow in luxurious ease ! Let us have a world 
of workers, and then we shall have a happy world. 

These powers also demand recreation, which may 
consist either of a change of physical exercise, or of 
diversions of a lighter sort. In either case, it should 
be taken after the physical energies have become 
somewhat exhausted from the labors of the day. It 
should also be taken amid pleasant associations, so 
that the mind may lend its aid to invigorate the body. 
Hence the practice of manly sports for those whose 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 109 

sedentary or mental habits deprive them of the requi- 
site amount of physical exercises; and those lighter 
diversions, more of a mental and moral character, for 
those whose physical powers have been taxed during 
the day, seem most appropriate. 

These diversions, however, should be guarded against 
excesses into which they are liable to run. They 
should be regulated, therefore, as to time, place, and 
manner, and never allowed to infringe upon other 
duties. 

Sec 2 — Intellectual Processes. — Our next topic 
is the general discussion of modes of intellectual cul- 
ture best suited for the subjective period. 

As the individual advances in true education, he 
requires less and less teaching. His powers, once 
awakened and properly directed, go forward per force 
of their own native energies, until, by and by, all the 
helps being removed, the man stands up a living, act- 
ing, positive being, fitted alike for the joys and sor- 
rows, the reverses and successes, the conflicts and 
triumphs of this life. 

His intellectual powers demand continued activity ; 
and, like the physical powers, unless this is afforded 
them, they fall into decay. The world of science and 
art, into which they are about to be introduced, fur- 
nishes ample scope and the necessary materials for 
such activity. 

The idea that an education, i. e., the full develop- 
ment of these powers, can be acquired in a few years, 
by attending college, is absurd. The preparation, indeed, 
may be made there, though this itself is not always 
done; the tools may be sharpened there, but their 
edge must be tried and their temper tested in subse- 



110 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

quent contest with actual duties. And not only so, 
but the tempering and developing of these powers are 
effected in this life struggle. The efforts must be con- 
tinuous, and the acquisitions constant. 

The false notion alluded to above, needs correcting. 
It is a mischievous one. The young man comes to 
believe that when he graduates he is educated, and 
hence entitled to some consideration. And so he is ; 
but he gets the idea that he is then ready to commence 
in the world, and that it has some special opening for 
him. He thinks that said world is under an obliga- 
tion to receive him fresh from the arms of his "Alma 
mater," and to compensate him for his long years of toil. 
He thus makes up his bill of items, and presents his 
claims ; but the heartless world tells him " to tarry at 
Jericho until his beard be grown," or to prove his 
claim, and to make good his title, and then to come, 
and it will listen to him. If he obey this admonition, 
he may succeed. If he disregard it, he will be apt to 
meet with disappointment, and to fall back among that 
numerous class of splendid failures who graduate for 
a name. 

But what are the modes of continuing this educa- 
tion, which we have supposed to be commenced and 
carried forward successfully thus far? One of the 
best methods of promoting healthy thought, so far as 
it relates to the school, and of introducing the learner 
to the higher modes of investigation, is the method of 
study and recitation by Topics. It cultivates that 
manly independence and self-reliance which consti- 
tute so large a share of the necessary elements of 
success. But a fuller description of this mode will be 
given in another place. 

The practice of Analysis also, now becomes inviting; 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. Ill 

and the dry abstractions of science yield before this 
powerful battery of thought, as the snow and the ice 
yield under the influence of the sun's rays. 

The Generalization processes follow; and every 
thing learned assumes its proper place in the super- 
structure of knowledge, until the whole stands out in 
fair proportions and beautiful outline, a symmetrical 
temple of truth. 

Criticism also forms a part of the modes of learning 
and teaching; and texts and authors are examined 
with care. Every thing is submitted to the severest 
scrutiny before it is admitted into the mind as a part 
of the intellectual fabric. 

Independent modes of teaching, and the inductive 
and deductive processes of investigating, form a part 
of those mental processes by which the individual is 
carried forward into the higher department of science 
and literature. 

Sec. 3 — Moral Processes. — -At no period in man's 
education do his moral powers claim more attention 
than when they are assuming that fixedness which 
gives the various shadings to moral character. A man, 
in the true sense of that word, standing out in all his 
manlinesR, and exhibiting these moral qualities, pre- 
sents one of the finest objects for contemplation of 
which the mind can conceive. It would seem that 
those powers were given man, that in him might shine 
the noblest perfections of creation. 

But what a fearful and melancholy picture is pre- 
sented, when we behold these powers dragged down 
from their lofty position, and made the slaves and 
sport of man's sensual desires ! It would seem that 
no sadder phase of human wretchedness could be 



112 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

exhibited ; that no darker shade could be thrown over 
the scene ; for these powers, having been created to 
occupy the highest seat in the human mind, are sub- 
ject, when once dethroned, to the saddest reverses, 
and generally descend to the lowest depths. Abun- 
dant provision, however, has been made, both in the 
physical and in the metaphysical world, for reclaiming 
and perpetuating these powers. 

The study of the works of Creation, as exhibited in 
the universe of matter, has claims to a high position 
among educational processes. Man here has an ex- 
cellent opportunity of viewing and comparing his 
own insignificance with the stupendous works of 
God, which overpower his mind. Under the influence 
of these feelings, he cries out with the Psalmist, 
" When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy 
fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast 
ordained ; what is man that thou art mindful of him, 
or the son of man that thou visitest him ? " He 
traces the finger of God in the works of creation, as 
exhibited in the most delicate peucilings of the small- 
est flower, and in the blushing hues of the rainbow : 
in the minutest atoms of matter up through all the 
forms and grades of creation, until he arrives at the 
very presence-chamber of Omnipotence, where he 
bows with meek reverence before Jehovah. He wor- 
ships, he adores. This gives him a more exalted 
view of life duties and obligations; and he studies 
the relations he sustains to his fellow men and to his 
God. 

But the study of man himself is a most wonderful 
subject; and if rightly pursued, will lead to the most 
exalted conclusions in reference to the wisdom and 
goodness of the Creator. 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 113 

We find man compounded of the strangest ex- 
tremes: "mortality and immortality; life and death; 
soaring loftiness and humbling littleness, — an ally at 
once of earth and heaven." And yet this is man, dis- 
tinct from all other beings, and destined to an endless 
existence. These truths can not fail to produce the 
profoundest humility in a mind properly imbued with 
the principles of early piety. 

Again : teaching offers a fine opportunity for the 
pursuit of this subject. The study of man, his phys- 
ical and metaphysical nature, their wonderful union, 
the adaptation of means to ends, the modes of culture, 
the harmony in the laws of mind and matter, and all 
that pertains to human culture, can not fail to impress 
the learner with awe and reverence. 

But the study of Inspiration, as a moral process, 
possesses merits to which no other can lay claims. If 
man's reason, assisted thus by the light of science, can 
approach so near to God, in the universe of matter, 
and if it can trace his handiwork in the metaphysical 
world, with what clearness can it apprehend these 
truths, when inspiration pours in its floods of light 
upon them ! And if the study of the universe of 
matter and of mind, and all that pertains to them, 
from the minutest atom or spark of intelligence up 
through all the grades of creation, until we lose sight 
of the created, in the effulgence of the Creator, fills 
the mind with such astonishment, and calls forth such 
profound reverence and adoration, what must be its 
overwhelming sensations, when it approaches that 
strange and mysterious sacrifice, upon which angels 
gazed with astonishment, the sacrifice that redeemed 
the world ? Here the feeble powers droop their 
wings. They can soar no higher; and the trembling 
in 



114 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

soul, overcome with this exhibition of vengeance and 
mercy joined, falls prostrate before its Maker. With 
unutterable fullness, it looks up through this wilder- 
ness of mystery, and with feelings of mingled awe 
and love, it adores and worships that God who 
planned and executed the scheme of creation and of 
redemption. The living faith now takes hold upon 
this scheme, and strengthens itself in the promises left 
on record for it, and lives and grows in the beatitudes 
of Spirit life. 

It is thus, that, through all these periods and pro- 
cesses, the child, the youth, the man, passes until he 
ripens into that noble being of power and excellence ; 
or, by an opposite course, he renders all these blessings 
so many curses, and flings defiance in his Maker's 
face. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus, it will be observed, that the whole subject of 
Education, or Human Culture, resolves itself into a 
certain science. The wdiole curriculum of duties, as 
well as the sciences to which they relate, may be so 
arranged as to meet the exact wants of the human 
being at every stage of his progress. 

The periods, to which allusion is made, are distinctly 
marked in the history of every educated man and 
woman, not so much, however, by the sole activity of 
any faculty or sets of faculties, or by the exclusive 
condition of the mind or body, as by the preponder- 
ance of objective or subjective manifestations and 
influences. 

The transition is not so much a distinct period as it 
is a mere condition of mind and body, when the 
change from one period to the other is most marked 
and rapid. Indeed, there is no distinction in the 



EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES. 115 

essential characteristics of the essence of mind, at any 
particular age, only that produced by its manifestations 
through a material organism. 

The ultimate principle of intelligence is strictly 
a unit,- the difference in kind, both as to quantity and 
quality, being more the result of physical causes, and 
different degrees of maturity, than of any original 
distinction in the character of the thinking principle 
itself, at its several stages of growth. It is the same 
intelligent agent, whether we regard it while looking 
out through the senses, upon the diversified forms and 
groups of physical phenomena, or turning its energies 
inward, and contemplating those more wonderful 
groupings of thought, affection and will, and thread- 
ing the more intricate mazes of reasoning, imagi- 
nation and abstraction. 



116 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION, 



SYNOPSIS V. 

f Copying lines. Angles. Geometrical figures. 
) 

EXERCISES. 



Blackboard j 



fHAND CUL-. 
TURE. 1 



Drawing pictures. Familiar objects. Draw. 
V. ing maps. Familiar places. 



r Copying letters. Numerical figures. Copy- 

Slate exer- \ . , „ , ,. ... 

cises -\ 1D S ancl forming words representing things. 

V_ Copying and forming sentences. Composition. 



Card exer- 
cises. 



Painting and coloring pictures and maps. 
Perspective and free hand drawing. Archi- 
tectural drawing. Painting. 



EXCURSION 
AND LABOR. 



Botanical, Geological, Mineralogical expedi- 
1 tions. Zoological and Entomological expedi- 
cises. j tions. Topographical and Historical expedi- 

tions. 



Manual ex- 
ercises. 



Experiment & 
manipulation. 



C Agricultural and Horticultural pursuits. Me- 
-< chanical and Architectural pursuits. Com- 
v. mercial and general business pursuits. 

Chemical and Philosophical experiments. 
Classification of specimens. Arrangement of 
cabinets. 



f Athletic ex- 
ercises. 



I GYMNASTICS- 



Walking. Running. Skating. Drilling. 
Climbing. Leaping. Vaulting. Balancing. 
Fencing. Swimming, etc. 



Breathing. Exploding Sounds. Reading. 
V ing- 



Vocal exer- I 

cises. J Declaiming in Concert. Singing. Chaut- 



IJALISTHENIC 
EXERCISES. 



Arm movements. 
Body movements. 
Feet movements. 



1'IIYSICAL CULTURE. J 17 



CHAPTER V. 

PHYSICAL CULTUEE. 

Remarks. 

"We propose in the three following chapters to give 
a more condensed and connected view of the three 
departments of education, viz. : Physical, Intellectual, 
and Moral and Religious, without special reference to 
any particular periods, but chiefly in those in which 
the child is under parental and school training. 

This might seem, at first view, like a repetition of 
the topics heretofore discussed ; but upon careful 
examination, it will be found that while the same 
principles are brought forward in hasty review, the 
object is to show their practical utility and more 
immediate bearing upon the exercises of the school- 
room and the family. The former chapters have 
dealt chiefly with the theoretical part of education ; 
because it is more in harmony with the subject, and 
better suited to the purposes of a text-book, to dispose 
of the theory first. 

The following three chapters will discuss the more 
general modes of teaching, as applicable both to the 
school and the private circle. And so far as they 
relate to the theory, they may be regarded discursive; 
and so far as they relate to practice, they may be 
regarded didactic. They will sustain the same relation 



118 THE SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 

to the theory, that the particular recitations in Beading, 
Arithmetic or English Grammar would sustain to 
school-room duties ; and hence they may be regarded 
as supplementary. 

Argument. 

We begin with man's physical nature first, because 
he is, in an educational sense, a physical being before 
he is a moral or intellectual being ; and secondly, 
because it is through the physical organism that we 
approach the mental and moral faculties, especially in 
childhood. 

The following inquiries might arise in the minds of 
some, viz. : 

1. Is there any special need of physical culture ? 

2. If so, will not this necessity provide for itself in 
the ordinary duties of life ? 

3. Is there any special necessity of connecting it 
with, and making it a part of, an educational system ? 

We shall endeavor to answer these questions in the 
order in which they occur, and then proceed to show 
the modes of application. 

The answer to the first, perhaps could best be given 
by a reference to the maladies, imbecility and physical 
suffering of the human race. If it be objected that 
these are the necessary results arising out of man's 
peculiar relations, we answer, that this is true no 
farther than it relates to violated law at some period ; 
that suffering is not necessary to man's happiness (and 
he was not made for misery), any further than it goes 
to correct his irregularities, and to call him back to 
the path of duty ; that its mission is accomplished 
when this is effected ; and that it would finally dis- 
appear, if the causes which produce it were removed. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 119 

It might, therefore, be pertinent to the point in 
hand, to inquire how far a correct physical education 
would go to reduce physical suffering. 

Educating in this, as in any other sense, means de- 
veloping, strengthening, fortifying and preparing for 
the fullest and freest activity ; and, consequently, for 
the largest, the most perfect and prolonged enjoyment. 
This, therefore, would cut off just so much physical 
suffering; since suffering and disease diminish and 
disappear in the same proportion in which physical 
development takes place, the one being incompatible 
with the other. This point then is settled ; and it 
goes far to settle the main issue, — the necessity of 
physical education. 

It might be further added, however, by way of a 
conclusion, that, since deformity, disease, and suffering 
do exist; and that — as it has been demonstrated, not 
only theoretically, but practically — they disappear pro- 
portionally as correct physical development takes place, 
other things being favorable; and that this last result is 
secured just in proportion to the right application of 
physical exercises and correct treatment, — therefore 
physical exercises, and all that appertains to correct 
physical treatment, are not only the best antidotes for 
physical suffering as it now exists, but the best possi- 
ble means for developing the powers, and fortifying 
them against the encroachment of disease, and pre- 
paring them for the largest and fullest enjoyment. 
This is further substantiated by actual experiment 
with inlividuals and communities. There is, there- 
fore, special necessity for physical education. 

2. Will not this necessity be provided for in the 
discharge of the ordinary duties of life ? 

We answer, Is it? This necessity may thus be sup- 



120 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

plied, but is it in the ordinary business transactions ? 
Are there no improprieties, not to say enormities, com- 
mitted in allowing children to have their own way in 
physical exercises ? Might not many of these irregu- 
larities be corrected in training children after a philo- 
sophical system ? Are their physical powers, in ordi- 
nary education, developed to their fullest extent, during 
the time in which the mental powers are receiving 
attention ? Are there not diseases rather, and suffer- 
ings, planted at a very early age in childhood, both in 
the school and in the family, which could be prevented 
by a proper knowledge of the means, and skill to 
apply them ? Are there any good reasons for suppos- 
ing that man's physical powers would provide for 
themselves without this wisdom and special direction, 
any more than his intellectual powers would? Do 
they possess instincts or native intelligence to direct 
themselves in their development, which other powers 
do not possess? Finally, do they not seek activity, 
and in consequence of the urgency of this demand, 
and for the want of proper restraint and direction, do 
they not run into .bad practices and adopt vicious hab- 
its that bring speedy destruction upon themselves and 
their possessors? 

Until these and similar difficulties are disposed of, in 
such a way as to show the uselessness of system and 
arrangement in training these powers, we shall claim 
that there is just as much necessity for special educa- 
tion, in this department of man's nature as in any 
other ; and especially is this true at that tender age 
when they are most impressible, and consequently 
most exposed. 

- 3. Is there any necessity for connecting it with,and 
making it a part of, an educational system ? 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 121 

To this question we reply briefly, that since there is 
no incompatibility between physical exercises and 
mental activity, but that, when properly directed, the 
one promotes the other; and since there is no antag- 
onism between any of the faculties and the forces that 
develop them; and since it does not become necessary 
to sacrifice one single physical power or one real 
enjoyment in order to educate the mind; therefore, 
we conclude that there is a special necessity for con- 
necting physical training with, and making it a part 
of an educational system. All the departments of 
man's nature were made to grow, the one with the 
other, and not one at a time, much less that the devel- 
opment of the one should demand the sacrifice of the 
other, as the popular practice, in many instances, 
would seem to indicate. 

It is a base reflection upon the wisdom and good- 
ness of the Creator, to suppose that he made body and 
mind, and placed them in such intimate relationship, 
and yet that he demands that one should be sacrificed 
for the benefit of the other. It is a glaring inconsist- 
ency, whose parallel is not found any where else in 
the wide universe ; and yet this very thing is prac- 
ticed every day, in the family, in the school, and 
in the college. It is, however, an irregularity 
that a true and liberal system of education would 
correct. 

We propose, therefore, in order to show the practi- 
cability and importance of exercising all the faculties 
harmoniously and simultaneously, with proper inter- 
vals of change and rest, to present the subject ot Phys 
ical Culture first, as the surest means of meeting, not 
only the physical wants, but the mental and moral 
also. All three of these departments should be started 
11 



122 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATEON. 

together, and kept together throughout the whole 
course of education. 

Physical Exercises. 
We shall proceed in the following order: 

1. Hand Culture, its varieties and uses. 

2. Excursion and Labor, their varieties and uses. 

3. Gymnastics, the varieties and uses. 

Article 1— Hand Culture. 

The hands are the great instruments of physical 
labor and enterprise. Their great activity as well as 
the great demand for their services, indicate their 
utility, and the necessity of educating them. They 
are among the first of the physical powers, (for they 
are instruments of power) in motion; and their con- 
tinued and unwearied exertions, as well as the rela- 
tion they sustain to matter and mind, as the instru- 
ments and media of tactual knowledge, should teach 
us the importance of providing employment for them 
at a very early day, Their activity, and consequent 
demand for employment, are incessant. And unless 
this demand is met, and appropriate employment fur- 
nished, they are pretty sure to find that which is 
inappropriate, or else to languish in hopeless idleness. 
In either case a lamentable injury is sustained. 

It becomes necessary then, if we follow out the 
leading idea of this work, to inquire, 1st, into the 
nature of the educational capacity or want; 2dly, to 
seek the appropriate supplies ; and 3dly, to make the 
proper application. 

The first has been done briefly in the preceding re- 
marks. Their further wants will appear as we pro- 
ceed. It is pertinent, therefore, to inquire in the 2d 
place, what kind of employment is best suited to 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 123 

satisfy these wants, and at the same time to accom- 
plish the other results, viz. : their healthy develop- 
ment, keep them out of mischief, open the way to 
the mind, and, at the same time, train them to useful 
employment. 

It has been remarked, that children are great im- 
itators. And so they are. They not only imitate the 
actions of those with whom they associate, but they 
have an equal desire to imitate the forms of objects 
with which they are surrounded, at the same time 
that they are becoming acquainted with them ; for 
the desire to become acquainted is the ulterior cause 
of imitation, in the great majority of cases. Nothing 
affords children greater pleasure, at the time when 
their hands become uneasy and anxious for employ- 
ment, and sometimes very annoying to mothers and 
teachers, than for them to represent, by pictures and 
other means, the objects of nature and art, with 
which they are brought in daily contact. In other 
words, they love to make pictures. They are imita- 
tors, or mechanics; and though their first products 
are rude, yet age and practice will improve them. 
Their ideas of form, size and fitness have just been 
awakened, and like other newborn powers, exercise 
gives them pleasure. They love to give expression 
to these ideas ; and this desire is so great sometimes 
as to lead to mischief, especially if not directed. 
Hence the propensity among boys, that have not had 
this desire properly cared for, to mark and cut, deface 
and even to destroy objects within their reach. This 
is only a perverted desire, the last being a distorted 
one. This may happen, too, very early in life ; even 
before any other manifestations of a similar kind have 



124 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

made their appearance. It is nevertheless the per- 
verted desire. Who perverted it, is another question. 
It is enough for our purpose to know that it is so, 
and that even this bad state of the case can, in a 
great measure, bo corrected. 

There is a picture period, or a period of representa- 
tive knowledge, into which every learner enters at 
an early age; and the acquisitions and development 
are more easily made through this source, than 
through any other. It is the earlier part of the 
Objective period. Tangible knowledge or objects 
themselves are first; second, their models and pictures ; 
third, their names, etc. Every child that arrives at 
maturity, passes through this period. The same great 
truth is observable in the process of civilization and 
enlightenment of nations. They are first objective in 
their modes of representing knowledge, the object 
itself conveys the idea ; then the picture performs 
the same office, then the word, etc. Hence the vari- 
ous stages of the development of written language. 
In the ruder stages of society we find first the picto- 
rial ; then, as civilization advances, the hieroglyphic, 
the verbal, the syllabic, and the alphabetic, or the 
highest and most philosophic mode of expressing 
thoughts. Thus it will be seen, that in respect to 
representative knowledge, a child passing from infancy 
through all the stages of growth, and a nation of peo- 
ple passing from Barbarism to Civilization, etc., have 
many peculiarities in common. But, in order to make 
the acquisitions more permanent and useful, they 
should be copied, or represented. This serves to fix 
it in the mind, and at the same time affords the right 
kind of employment. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 125 

Now observe the harmony and wisdom of the de- 
sign. The hands, at this period, are full of activity, 
and must have employment, or they are continually 
running into mischief. The mind is in that particular 
condition, in which it craves that very kind of knowl- 
edge the hands alone can furnish. The hands there- 
fore, ask to do the thing which the mind wants done, 
and which can be done by no other instruments. 
Why not then, let them work for each other, and 
prevent the countless evils that arise from their sepa- 
ration and consequent inactivity ? But what exercises 
are best adapted to these wants ? For the nursery 
and home training, children should have a plentiful 
supply of models, pictures, etc., as objects of imita- 
tion ; and slates, cards, pencils and other convenien- 
ces, and opportunity for exercising their hands and 
eyes. This, in the end will be found to be a cheap 
and very profitable investment, for it will save both 
time and patience. But for the school-room, a classi- 
fication like the following might be made: — 

1. Blackboard exercises. 2. Slate exercises. 3. 
Card exercises. 

Section 1 — Blackboard Exercises. — It was a re- 
mark of a distinguished educator, that " Every inch 
of school-room wall, not devoted to blackboard, should 
be appropriated for a cabinet of common things and 
the curiosities of art and nature." This would be an 
admirable arrangement for the primary school as well 
as for the more advanced ; for it would afford the 
right kind of facilities for experimenting and drawing. 
But a large amount of blackboard is also necessary 
for the use of children ; so that when they become 
weary of their other lessons, and of their seats, as 



126 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

they soon will, they may go to the board and amuse 
themselves, by drawing lines, pictures,' maps, etc. 

This would be a much better means of disposing of 
this superabundance of vital force and mental activity 
than to let it work off in the form of mischief, or even 
to attempt to crush it out by long confinement, and 
then to complain that the child has not capacity, when 
in fact he has just been deprived of what little he had. 
Scolding and whipping will only aggravate the evils 
by driving this activity into improper channels. Bet- 
ter direct it than attempt to crush it ; for in doing the 
latter we are warring against the strongest element of 
power, planted in the human being. We venture to 
say that the effort to keep children quiet, all the time, 
in the school-room, as some teachers do, is more ex- 
hausting to teachers than all the teaching they do, 
simply because children were not made to be quiet all 
the time, any more than trees and plants were made 
to be moved every few days. Look at that child, 
teacher, as he writhes in the hopeless agony of idle- 
ness before you ; and then tell me, if you can, that he 
must be quiet. Why, every limb and joint, and bone, 
and muscle, ligament, nerve, and fiber in his body 
quivers its negation to such a proposition, and says, a? 
plain as language can say, give me exercise, activity, and 
labor. Will you, therefore, be dumb to these mute but 
eloquent pleadings? The children need the exercises 
of which the teacher strives to deprive them ; and the 
teacher needs the force thus expended, to direct the 
children in their lessons and exercises. Let, therefore, 
the same harmony obtain here that exists every where 
else, in the departments of nature. Blackboard exer- 
cises may serve in part, at least, to exhaust that accu- 
mulation of vitality which is sometimes so annoying, 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 127 

but which was never made to be wasted nor crushed 
out. For convenience, these exercises may be classi- 
fied somewhat in the following manner: 

1. Copying, and forming lines, angles, and geometrical 
figures. The perpendicular, horizontal, and oblique 
lines might constitute one class of exercises; and if 
the teacher can afford the time necessary to direct 
them, it would be well to have the whole class operate 
in concert. The combinations of right lines into 
angles and rectilinear figures might constitute another ; 
while the curves and their combinations would con- 
stitute still another. 

These exercises will cultivate close observation, and 
will train the judgment in comparison and in the ap- 
prehension and conception of forms of beauty, as well 
as the eye and the hand in tracing them. And when 
sufficient command of the hand and the muscles ap- 
pertaining thereto, shall have been secured, a higher 
class of exercises may be attempted. 

2. Drawing pictures of familiar objects, etc., will be 
entirely compatible with the wants. Here it will be 
found that some children will prefer one class of ob- 
jects, and some another. It may therefore be well 
to indulge them, to some extent, in their preferences, 
both for the purpose of encouraging them and of 
ascertaining their peculiarities. Better opportunities 
will also occur here for learning the disposition and 
capacity of the child, than will ordinarily occur in a 
whole term of the best instruction in A, B, C. Super- 
added to this will be the opportunity of encouraging 
talent in mechanical execution and sesthetical culture — 
departments of education too much neglected among 
the American people. 

A classification of objects like the following, may 



128 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

be of service to teachers : animate and inanimate* 
objects ; and of the first, the wild and domestic, with 
any subdivisions that may suggest themselves. Of 
the second, natural and artificial; and these again 
suggest their subdivisions as organic and inorganic, 
as vegetable and mineral — such as trees, rocks, etc. : 
and for the artificial ; architectural structures, mechan- 
ical, agricultural and household implements, etc., etc. 
But it will be found best in most cases, at first, not to 
adhere too strictly to technical distinctions or classes. 
Let there be as. much freedom in the selections as will 
comport with the nature of the exercises, it being suf- 
ficient for ordinary purposes to place the copies or 
models before the class, and allow them to make their 
own selections, except when the object is to secure 
concert of movement and dispatch, precision and 
accuracy in execution. In this case, the same forms 
should be selected for the whole class, and a regular 
drill given in the execution of them. 

This mode of representing things will suggest the 
representation of localities or places. Hence, drawing 
maps of familiar places will follow as a matter almost 
of necessity; and the little urchins' eyes will sparkle 
as they trace the outline of the door-yard, the garden 
or orchard at home ; or the school-room, the play- 
ground, or flower-garden, and little paths of the school 
premises ; and I have seen the teachers' eyes sparkle 
too in such exercises, and a feeling of sympathy and 
love pervade the whole group of learners. How much 
better this, than that cold, forbidding crabbed ness 
which freezes the very life out of children ! This pro- 
cess will awaken mind as well as afford an outlet for 
vital force. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 129 

Sec 2 — Slate Exercises. — Another class of exer- 
cises equally important, though not so much of a 
physical character, may be named- Slate Exercises. 
These may be practiced at the same time with Black- 
board Exercises, and presuppose that children should 
be furnished with slates, the very first day they 
enter school. They are even more useful and neces- 
sary then, than their books are. It were no greater 
inconsistency to send a child to school without his 
coat or appropriate clothing or food, than to send 
him without a slate. He will need his slate and pen- 
cil as much as he will need any of these articles. It 
would be like sending a man to do a day's work with- 
out providing him tools with which to work ; and the 
enormity would be still greater, if we should tie his 
hands and feet, and then require him to work. The 
analogy can readily be traced by those who have seen 
little boys and girls tied, as it w T ere, to their seats 
throughout the long, dull hours of the school-day, 
with the hopeless task of nothing to do, staring them 
in the face. The best primary schools in the land 
now require the slate and pencil, as a necessary prep- 
aration for attending school. 

There may be difficulty, however, at present, in 
securing this arrangement in. the country school ; and 
it is quite likely the same difficulty would exist one 
hundred years hence, provided there is nothing said 
about it. But a reform is necessary and right, and there- 
fore should be put into operation as soon as possible. 
What, therefore, are the exercises with the slate ? The 
child is supposed to be about learning the alphabet of 
elementary sounds, as a mental exercise. Now, of 
what advantage will this physical exercise be to him 
in this respect? For we have claimed for it that it is 



180 THE SCIENCE OP EDUCATION. 

useful everywhere, and in every way. It is a pecul- 
iarity of childhood, as well as of manhood, to set a 
greater value upon its own products than upon others. 
Hence the little boy will value the sled or top he 
made, or the little girl the doll dress she made, vastly 
more than he or she does any others, though the latter 
may, in reality, be ten times more valuable. 

One reason for this seems to be that their attention 
has been called to every particular in relation to these 
things; they have felt an interest in every part and 
particle of them ; their little ingenuities have been 
taxed, exhausted perhaps, in their production. Hence 
they have really cost them more ; and a consciousness 
oT ability to produce them, renders them a thousand 
fold more valuable. So in making a picture, a map 
or a letter. Its value to the child will be in propor- 
tion to the interest and ingenuity expended in its 
production. He will feel a greater interest in a letter 
or figure he makes himself, than in one he finds already 
made. All the letters of the alphabet, and the numer- 
ical figures may thus be made at the same time that 
children are learning them — all too, by just taking 
advantage of the desire and necessity for physical 
exercises. 

Copying and forming letters and numerical figures 
may, therefore, constitute a pleasing and profitable 
employment for children while upon their seats, about 
the same time that they are taking lessons or exercises 
on the board. 

But as soon as a child learns to make a few letters, 
he should be taught to combine them, so as to form 
words representing familiar objects. This now awak- 
ens in him the same idea that the real object or the 
picture did. Then his ambition and interest increase. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 131 

Fie begins to feel that he really is employed about 
some important business. And so he is. It is ques- 
tionable whether, if he should live, he would ever be 
employed about any greater. Let him feel it then. 
Let his little heart swell to its utmost capacity ; for he 
has actually accomplished wonders when he has 
acquired the ability to represent objects and words ; 
and no wonder, if it become the proudest achievement 
of his life. 

Hence, copying and forming words that represent 
familiar things, may constitute the second step in 
slate exercises, corresponding to the pictures on the 
blackboard or the slate, for they need not be confined 
to the board. 

As soon, therefore, as words are formed, the pro- 
priety of connecting them will at once suggest itself; 
and little sentences composed of little words will soon 
grow up under this nurturing process. And hence 
just as fast as the child learns the elements in his 
mental training, he should use them in all possible 
relations until he is perfectly familiar with both their 
nature and use. Hence composition writing is com- 
menced right here, on the principle that as fast as a 
child learns facts and principles, he should both do 
them- and tell them. 

The advantages of the above named course can not 
fail to be seen and appreciated by every intelligent 
teacher. It might seem at first to be more of intel- 
lectual training than physical. Grant it : but it will 
be remembered that it is through the physical man 
that we reach the mental ; so that while we adopt 
exercises to meet the wants of the hands, we are alJ 
the time feeding the mind most eftuctually. 



132 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Section 3 — Card Exercises.* — These exercises are 
intimately allied to those last mentioned, and may be 
included under the head of Hand Culture, though 
they are not less efficient in the cultivation of the 
intellect, and the taste in particular. They may con- 
sist of two varieties, and are semi-intellectual in their 
application and effects. To be learned and appre- 
ciated they should be seen. 

The first consists in the use of blocks or slips of 
pasteboard, or cards with letters printed upon them ; 
and grooves, or frames, or plain surfaces, into which 
or upon which the children place these blocks, etc., 
so that the letters shall form words and sentences. 
This plan has been successfully adopted in teaching 
idiots. It aids them in the control of the muscles, and 
gives them precision and individuality of movement. 
The exercise is both j/hysical and intellectual, and, 
if properly conducted! will suitably engage all the 
powers at the same time. 

The other has reference to the use of blank cards 
or slips to be used in drawling, either linear or per- 
spective. Painting or coloring pictures or maps, 
architectural drafting and sketching from nature, will 
afford the pupil great delight and profit. 

Special directions for conducting these exercises 
seem unnecessary here, since we have text-books upon 
most of these subjects. Indeed they scarcely need 
any direction. They will follow the other exercises, 
if the means are provided, just as certainly as reading 
will follow spelling, or as acquisition will follow ex- 
periment and study. And they may be continued all 
through the school period. 

* Free hand Drawing, as now taught in our best schools, supplies 
this want. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 133 

We close this section with these general remarks : 
1. That teaching and learning become pleasant just 
in the proportion in which they conform to natural 
and philosophical principles. 2. That antagonisms 
and inconsistencies cease in the same ratio. 3. That 
while it is not the teacher's duty to relieve the child 
of any of its appropriate labor, not even to remove the 
natural obstacles from the way, but rather to teach it 
how to surmount them ; yet when the way is entirely 
blocked up, and hedged about with error, it is his duty 
then to break the way and to remove the unnatural 
obstacles. 4. That it is important that this be done 
soon, since the miserable excuses now urged by some 
teachers, for clinging to the errors in teaching, will be 
likely to have as much force one thousand years hence 
as now, provided no one steps forward and offers to 
remove them ; and lastly, that it is the better policy 
always to educate the school up to a proper standard, 
than to degrade the standard to a level with igno- 
rance and inconsistency. 

Article 2— Excursion and Labor. 

There is another department of physical culture or 
exercise properly belonging to school and family train- 
ing, which should receive attention here. 

For the want of a better name, we shall call it 
Excursion and Labor. 

Its application to the school-room is not so immedi- 
ate as that of Black-board Exercises ; yet, there are 
many things connected with it that will render it 
highly useful for the same purposes for which the 
others are recommended, viz : 1st, In affording an out- 
let to the superabundance of vitality, and leading it 
off into useful channels; 2d, In developing, fortifying, 



134 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

and training the physical powers to manly vigor and 
useful employment; 3d, Of opening up the way for 
the most successful mental and moral development. 

For convenience the subject may be classified as fol- 
lows: 1. Field Exercises, etc.; 2. Manipulations and 
Experiments; 3. Manual Labor and Business. 

These terms are not expressive of the precise ideas 
intended, and yet they come nearer than any others in 
our vocabulary. 

The Field Exercises are used somewhat in the 
sense of Field Notes in surveying, etc. 

They may include, 1. Botanical, Geological, and 
Mineralogical Expeditions; 2. Zoological and Ento- 
mological Expeditions; 3. Topographical and His- 
torical Expeditions. 

It is a truth well attested, we think, that nature, in 
her multiform varieties, teaches not only the first, 
but some of the most attractive and useful lessons. 
Her treasury of knowledge, for simplicity, variety, 
utility, and beauty, is not surpassed by all the accu- 
mulated stores of art. These stores, too, are well 
adapted to the purposes for which they were intended. 
Each season of the year brings with it its peculiar 
charms for childhood, youth and age. Hence, child- 
hood and spring, middle age and summer, old age 
and winter, have ever been used, not only as the 
strongest types of physical and metaphysical resem- 
blance, but as actually possessing mutual attractions 
for each other. But, however this last may be, it is 
nevertheless certain that the fields and the woods, the 
rocks and the brooks, the mountains and the floods, 
the flowers and the fruits, that are cast abroad in such 
profusion over the face of nature, possess a charm for 
Ihe heart, for which we may seek in vain elsewhere 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 135 

This is emphatically true in youth. But what advan- 
tage can be derived from the.se dispositions in chil- 
dren, and their corresponding excitants in nature? 

This marked conformity of want to supply and sup- 
ply to want, indicates design ; or else it forms an ex- 
ception to the general rule. 

Section 1 — Field Exercises. — Botany is a science 
of great beauty and acknowledged utility; but its 
study is usually deferred until late in life. This, per- 
haps, is well, so far as the technicalities and more dif- 
ficult parts of the science are concerned. But there is 
much of the beautiful and useful of this and kindred 
sciences that may be taught in connection with the 
school duties, physical exercises, and common duties, 
where they will be most readily seen and appreciated. 

What is more lamentable than the ignorance that 
prevails among laborers, and indeed, among all classes, 
in reference to this and kindred sciences ! And for 
what class of society are they more useful and befit- 
ting than for that which is brought in daily contact 
with nature's loveliness ? But how shall the evil be 
corrected? Must they or their children spend their 
time in the pursuit of these branches in the ordinary 
way of studying them, when so many other things 
demand their attention? 

Much, and perhaps all that is really necessary, might 
be done for children in these branches, while they are 
attending school, without at all interfering with their 
other duties. This is the age with them, when their 
bodies need the fresh and invigorating air from mount- 
ain and valley. Their long confinement in the school- 
room, perhaps in fetid and poisoned air, will render 
some change more necessary. 



1-36 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

They need, also, the active exercise of limb and 
body. The long rambles, the excursions after fruits 
and flowers, etc., which will bring them in close prox- 
imity with the wonderful works and operations of 
nature, will afford this in due measure. 

The waters and the air abound with life. The earth 
teems with myriads of living beings. Her bowels 
groan with untold wealth, intellectual as well as phys- 
ical. Her surface is covered with a carpet of verdure, 
and starred and gemmed with flowers. Her products 
are full of strange variety, and the foot-prints of the 
Creator are visible upon every rock. Can she fail, 
therefore, to become interesting to the learner? 

These objects themselves possess the same advantage 
over the mere description of them, in text-books, that 
a view of a real scene or visible transaction possesses 
over the mere description ; and, added to this, is the 
physical labor that earns it. Of course, these excur- 
sions and exercises will not supersede the use or ne- 
cessity of the text -book. They will render it only 
more attractive and useful, for reasons that have 
already been given. 

What, therefore, will be the impropriety of stated 
rambles or excursions over the hills and along the 
brooks and rivers, in the fields and in the forests, to 
catch the glimpses of those noble forms of creation, 
that art can never equal, and which will plant great 
thoughts deep down in the soul ? 

Why not pluck the wild flowers, gather the fruits, 
or cull the specimens of shells and stones and ores, 
that abound in almost all localities? Why not hunt 
the beetle and the butterfly, and collect specimens in 
all the departments of natural history? Why not 
interrogate nature here in her own dominions, where 



PHYSICAL CULTUKE. 187 

she will give sensible responses? Why not bound 
with light foot and lighter heart over the joyous earth, 
since our bodies languish, and our souls pant, and 
nature beckons us with her blandest smile ? There is 
no impropriety in it, more, than there would be, if a 
man were hungry, to feed him. 

Let us suppose a band of blooming boys and girls 
sallying forth for an afternoon ramble. The under- 
standing is, that they are to collect specimens in all 
the above named departments of natural history, for 
the purpose of forming a school cabinet. 

They attack the first coal-bank that lies in their 
line of march, and make the necessary spoliation. The 
next may be a patch of wild flowers, or blossoming'' 
shrubs or trees, and the shouts and exultations are 
prolonged and loud. Can you look at that excited 
group, teacher, without emotion? Why not? Be- 
cause it is an exhibition of nature, giving a lesson to 
her children, a kind of recitation too rare in the 
schools. 

Look again ! There, they have found a nest of 
bees ! And mark how that ambitious boy will risk 
the pain of an encounter, rather than lose his specimen 
of the hymenoptera. And see where yonder stream 
washes the pebbles from the mountain ! What a busy 
crowd collect there ! They are gathering shells and 
stones ; and that fern along the sedgy lake or pond, 
must grace the herbarium of a loved sister or class- 
mate. Even the fishes can not escape, and attacks 
are made on the brooks and streams. Thus they 
ransack nature through till, tired, some sink down to 
rest, and cull their specimens ; and some to ruminate, 
and drink in, the forms of beauty and grandeur of 
nature. And now the little group return to their 
12 



138 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

school-house ; tired, it may be, with the toils of the 
march, but laden with the spoils of science. Now 
they examine their stock, and prepare for the arrange- 
ment. They investigate and discriminate; they clas- 
sify and arrange their specimens. And how sweet 
their sleep becomes, this night, because they have 
been exercising all their powers harmoniously ; and 
think you they will not love their school and its exer- 
cises more and better, for this acquisition ? Will 
they not, too, escape that ignorance, so common as to 
these sciences? Their stupidity must border close 
upon idiocy, if they do not. 

Section 2 — Experiment and Manipulation. — The 
process of experimenting and manipulating may now 
commence ; and it will be with that real interest that 
always invests a subject, when thus rendered practical. 
These exercises may be classified according to the 
amount of apparatus, grade of school, and elements used: 

1. Chemical and Philosophical Experiments; 2. 
Preparation and Classification of Specimens; 3. 
Preparation and Arrangements of Cabinets. Every 
school-house in the land, might have a cabinet of 
some kind. The woods and hills and brooks, are full 
of the right kinds of specimens ; and that teacher 
who is too indolent to collect them, or allow his pupils 
to collect them, ought not to be allowed to keep school. 

Nothing perhaps would add more to the interest 
and profit of the school-room, than thus furnishing it 
with specimens in all the departments common to the 
locality, and with Chemical and Philosophical appa- 
ratus, by which other wonders in the natural world 
might be exhibited. 

Enter two class-rooms with me. In the one, the 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 139 

astute professor is lazily asking, or rather reading, 
questions to the class ; or it may be, he is discoursing 
learnedly upon the various geological periods, the 
philosophical abstractions of Metaphysics; or he may 
be explaining the technicalities of Natural History, 
Language or Mathematics. The pupils sit with meek, 
blank submission. With folded hands and eyes up- 
turned (if awake) it may be, half wonderingly upon 
him, but more likely staring into vacuity: their 
minds — -it were easier to say where they are not, 
than to guess where they are. But thus they man- 
age to endure the lesson. Every thing evinces the 
languor, stupidity, uneasiness and inattention of over- 
confinement. Now at this point, propose a geological 
or botanical excursion with them, to the mountains; 
or a ramble or a scramble over the valleys and hills, 
as described above. Will not their eyes sparkle, their 
blank faces kindle, their forms straiten up, and every 
muscle begin to contract and to prepare for the en- 
counter ? 

But enter the other class-room. The pupils are all 
fresh from one of those excursions. Each one holds 
his specimen, and is anxious for the test of experi- 
ment or examination. The teacher, no less enlisted 
than they, need but suggest a subject, and their willing 
minds grapple with it at once. They are all alive. 
The difference in the two recitations is quite percep- 
tible. These latter have been shaking hands with the 
living, loving and speaking forms of nature ; and their 
cheeks glow T with health ; their eyes sparkle with intel- 
ligence; and their minds kindle as they approach these 
life-giving subjects. The one process is teaching, the 
other is stultifying. Physical culture suggests the 
former. 

10 



140 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

ISTow there is no possible excuse why school-houses 
should present the barren and forbidding appear- 
ance that they do, so long as nature 'abounds with 
the very apparatus that is needed. And what renders 
this matter still more urgent is, that most, if ndt all 
that is absolutely necessary, may be collected in the 
immediate vicinity, by the teacher and pupils, in their 
rambles for needed recreation and health. What 
could not thus be collected, might soon be secured by 
exchanges. 

Is this impracticable then ? If so, then education is 
impracticable, because it involves the very first prin- 
ciples of education, viz. : development, discipline, 
acquisition and use. If this is mere speculation, and 
delicately elaborated theory without a possibility of 
practice, then education is a failure ; and we must 
forever be doomed to unwelcome toil and drudgery, 
to vexation and ultimate disappointment, with the 
great mass of youth. But we are at liberty to draw 
no such conclusions. The experiments and successes 
already accomplished forbid this ; therefore, the prem- 
ise is wrong, and this is not mere speculation, but 
sound practical philosophy — the natural and most 
ready and legitimate way to accomplish the ends we 
have in view. 

Section 3 — Manual Exercises. — The topic of man- 
ual labor and exercise has been discussed in preceding 
chapters. It will not therefore be referred to again, 
except to show its connection with this part of the 
subject. The person taught after the manner indi- 
cated above, goes to his daily toils, feeling the dignity 
of labor. He not only feels that he is surrounded by 
the living and loving forms, but that he is handling 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 141 

the very instruments that God has made for his use. 
He goes to his fields, not like the galley-slave scourged 
to his duty, but conscious that he is there to meet 
with those welcome companions, those old acquaint- 
ances, that have contributed so largely to his happi- 
ness in early life. 

The mechanic, the professional man, and the man of 
business are equally benefited, in their several depart- 
ments, from the knowledge of the forces of nature that 
have been thus early revealed to them. 

Again : the chances for success in almost any 
department of business are more than doubled, by this 
early and practical acquaintance with Nature and her 
laws. Numberless occasions will occur, in the life of 
an educated man, in which he can not only enhance 
his own wealth and happiness, but can contribute 
largely to the enjoyment of his fellows, He sees 
beauty where others see deformity ; and the grosser 
materials that are passed, it maybe, with indifference 
by the vulgar, are made to contribute to his wants and 
enjoyment. 

And last, but not least, these things have had a 
tendency to preserve health and develop the physical 
man. They have preserved him from a broken-down 
constitution; and now that he is a man, he has the 
feelings, the habits, the soul, the mind and the body 
of a man. 

Article 3— Gymnastics. 

The next subject to which attention will be called, 
viz., Gymnastics, is one so full of science, that we do 
not feel at all competent to do it justice. It has, 
however, such a practical bearing upon a symmetrical 
education, that its leading principles may be so 



142 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

grouped and presented as to enable the teacher to ap- 
prehend them at once, and to put them into practice. 

Text-books on this subject have been carefully 
compiled, which, if consulted, will enable the teacher 
to build up his own system. This subject is claiming 
much attention, in this way, in our best schools and 
among our ripest scholars; and the educational in- 
strumentalities are considered by them, to be quite 
incomplete, if they do not embrace the means of 
physical culture. 

Gymnastics, as it is applied by modern educators, has 
reference to the healthy development of the physical 
powers. It accomplishes this by means of various 
exercises which will be named hereafter. It proposes 
to correct the abuses commonly practiced, and to 
remedy those evils that have been imposed upon the 
body by improper management, as well as to strengthen 
and fortify it against the encroachments of disease. 
As such, it has been introduced into the schools, and is 
fast becoming a regular system of training. 

Section 1 — Athletic Exercises. — For practical 
purposes the following classification might be adopted. 
It may be made to include all, and perhaps something 
more, than can be practiced in the common school. 

The Athletic Exercises may include Walking, Run- 
ning, Leaping, Skating, Rowing, Balancing, Clirnbing, 
Vaulting, Fencing, etc. Most, if not all of these 
exercises may be practiced in connection with the 
school duties, provided there is some one to give 
direction to them. 

Take the first one, for example. But it may be 
asked, " Do not our boys and girls of school age know 



PHYSICAL CULTUKE. 143 

how to walk ? " " Why teach them what they already 
know ? " 

We ask, How&o they walk? Are their manners in 
this particular what they should be ? Take an ex- 
ample in some of our rural districts. Propose to the 
children to give a sample of their ability to cross and 
recross the room ; to pass to and from the recitation 
seat ; or to enter and retire from the room ; and what 
are these performances like ? We would be safe in 
saying they are like nothing else. They are purely sui 
generis. There would be limping, halting, swaggering, 
embarrassment, affectation, awkwardness, slovenliness 
and perhaps as many more varieties. 

Now all of these faults become very annoying to a 
teacher of taste or refinement, especially in recitations. 
Can they be corrected ? We maintain that they can : 
and that too, at school, and in the school-room — 
both the time and place to do this work. It is seldom 
ever done if neglected here. There is no time so 
favorable for refining the body, as when we are refining 
the mind, and when its organs and instruments are in 
a plastic state. 

The first thing to be done in correcting the evils of 
this class, to which we are prone, is to cultivate an 
erectand easy posture in standing. Then some simple 
and graceful movements of the hands and arms — such 
as are commonly used in oratorical gesticulation ; then 
of the feet in changing the position from right to left 
and the reverse; then turning, first, one quarter, then 
one half, and finally entirely round — each effort con- 
stituting a separate exercise, observing to make as 
little effort as possible. 

These exercises should be practiced in concert daily, 



144 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

and usually with the reading lessons, until the pupils 
acquire ease and freedom in the execution of all the 
movements. 

Now the step maybe introduced, which should con- 
sist, at first, of a few simple movements in concert ; 
and may be timed either with or without music. 
Let them be easy, graceful, firm and elastic. For 
the school-room walk, as it is sometime termed (not 
the march), the toe should be last to leave the floor 
and first to approach it. This is done by a slight 
flexion of the knee forward, and also by throwing the 
body forward and over it, so as not to give the walk 
the appearance of a strut. It is not walking upon the 
toe entirely, since the bottom of the foot and heel are 
gradually brought to the floor after the toe or ball has 
struck. 

A daily exercise at least should be practiced, and 
the boisterous, slovenly and uncouth habits of the 
boys and girls will soon undergo a change for the better, 
much sooner than if they were scolded for their noise 
and bad manners for a whole term. 

In all these exercises, care should be taken to avoid 
the labored or affected manner, such as reeling from 
side to side, or swinging the hands and arms, etc. 
Nature only needs assistance, in order to give the 
truest manners and the highest polish. 

Here again it will be observed, the law of mutual 
adaptation is reaffirmed; for while these exercises are 
adopted chiefly for their physical benefits, they accom- 
plish a very important part in the mental and moral 
development, and social refinement of the pupil. 

The running, leaping, skating, rowing, etc. belong 
more appropriately to the play-ground and excursion, 
but maybe rendered tenfold more serviceable by being 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 145 

superintended by a competent master. And then 
again, those injurious excesses into which the pupils 
are liable to run, may be avoided. 

We shall not attempt a description of these exercises 
here, but would beg leave to refer the reader to works 
on these subjects. 

The climbing, balancing, vaulting, fencing, etc., as 
well as some to which reference has been made, belong 
to the gymnasium ; and, where the school is furnished 
with an instrumentality of this kind, they should be 
under the strict superintendence of a competent in- 
structor, by which the evils of improper and too vio- 
lent or too feebl'e exercise may be avoided, and the 
healthiest, manliest strength and vigor cultivated. 

How much wiser, on the part of the educator, to 
take advantage of this desire for active exercise, so 
common in childhood, and make it accomplish some 
important part in the child's education, rather than to 
allow it to be wasted in idleness, or upon corrupting 
and vicious games and trilling amusements, whose 
only effects are to degrade the man ! 

Sec. ^— Vocal Exercises. — Technically, gymnas- 
tics might not cover all the ground we have mapped 
out for it; but practically, we propose to make it in- 
clude all that belongs to body culture, not included in 
hand culture, and excursions and labor. 

Hence both Yocal Exercises and Calisthenics will 
claim attention. The human voice is the product of 
physical effort. Its organs constitute not only one of 
the most useful apparatuses, but, at the same time, 
one of the most delicate, complicate and wonderful. 

We shall not attempt its anatomy or analysis here, 
but shall content ourselves with offering some sugges- 
13 



146 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

tions on modes of culture, as connected with physical 
exercises. 

One of the great obstacles to vocal culture is weak- 
ness and want of flexibility in the vocal organs. 
These should be the first things corrected. The habit 
of weak and indistinct speaking is one that annoys 
teachers much. Hence various devices have been 
resorted to, in order to correct it. Pupils have been 
coaxed, censured, and even threatened, for not speaking 
loud and plain enough in recitation, while it has been 
alleged as evidence against them, that they can speak 
loud enough in conversation and on the playground. 

But scolding, however much it may increase the 
teacher's quantity of voice (we do not think it can im- 
prove its quality), will have little, if any influence in 
improving the voices of the pupils. The only effect- 
ual way to induce them to give up their bad habits, 
is to give them good ones in exchange for them; or, 
in other words, to drive out bad habits by means of 
good ones. 

Good reading and speaking, as a physical exercise, 
is made from good voices, and good voices are made 
from breath or breathing. Hence good elocution 
depends upon the breathing. The first step, there- 
fore, in vocal gymnastics, is an exercise in breathing. 
This, at first, might seem unnecessary, since, in the 
language of the little boy who was caught whistling 
in school, if we let it alone, it will breathe itself; yet 
very few people really know how to breathe, so as to 
make the best possible use of their breath. If all did 
know, then would all have good voices, except those 
who have physical defects. 

But suppose an exercise in breathing. 

1. Position. — The pupils are arranged standing, and 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 147 

it may be best, on a line, on each side of the room, 
facing each other. The posture should be erect, the 
hands resting upon the hips and waist, the fingers 
forward and pressing slightly upon the abdomen, the 
shoulders thrown back, but not strained. 

2. Inspirations. — The inhalations should be in con- 
cert, and, at first, moderate, but gradually increased 
from time to time, until they become long, full, and 
deep, filling the lungs to their utmost capacity. They 
may be made either through the mouth or nostrils, or 
both ; and, for the greater part of the exercises, they 
should be made without noise, or what is called loud 
breathing. 

3. Expirations. — These should correspond with the 
inspirations. All the air should be expelled from the 
lungs, preparatory to another inhalation, gradually at 
first, but increasing in force and rapidity until the 
explosive force is reached. The passage of the air to 
and from the lungs, may, for convenience of concert 
exercises, be indicated by the upward and downward 
movement of the hand or index of the teacher. 

The exercise should be daily at least — twice a day 
is still better — and should be continued each time 
until a sensation of dizziness is experienced. This 
sensation, however, will gradually subside. It would 
be well, in some instances, to accompany these breath- 
ings with appropriate motions of the hands and arms. 
These, thus combined, would give capacity to the 
lungs and chest; would develop and strengthen the 
muscles situated in and about them, and at the same 
time they would give command over the hands and 
arms. Another exercise, or rather a modification, of 
the same one, may now be commenced. 

It requires the same order and arrangement, and 



148 



THE SCIENCE OE EDUCATION. 



the same exercise, except that in place of simple 
breath or breathing, we now use the voice while ex- 
pelling the air from the lungs. 

1. The long vocal sounds should be selected first, 
and delivered with all possible force, key and velocity ; 
then all the vocal sounds in the same manner. It is 
best to practice on the deep tones first. 

2. The sub-vocal and aspirate sounds may now be 
given in a similar manner, with the exception, per- 
haps, of some of the variations, observing always to 
secure full, deep, healthy sounds, as the physical benefits, 
as well as the success in training, will depend upon this. 

3. Now take a word or short sentence, one having 
an easy flow of sounds, and drill the class upon it, in 
the same manner, through all the possible varieties of 
force, pitch, velocity and inflection. Then advance to 
more difficult sentences, and those having the most 
difficult combinations of sub-vocal and aspirate sounds. 

The following system of marks has been used by 
the author, with some success, in drilling teachers at 
Institutes, and may be of some service to others. 

The heaviest stroke in the following scale indicates 
the greatest force, or the loudest or greatest volume 
of voice ; the next in size, a slightly diminished force, 
or loudness, and so on down to the softest murmur, 
and even the whisper, which might be indicated by a 
dotted line. Thus : — 



F E C E. 




Loud. 

Medium loud. 
Medium. 



Medium soft. 
Soft. 



PHYSICAL CULTURE. 



149 



In like manner pitch or key may be represented to 
the eye : the upper line in the following, indicating 
the high; the next below, the medium high; and so on 
down until the very lowest possible pitch is attained, 
being careful not to vary the general force. Thus: — 



P I T C H. j a 



m High. 

Medium high. 
Medium. 
Medium low. 
.Low. 



And thus again with velocity or rate of motion : 
the first or long intervals in the following, represent- 
ing slowest utterance; the less intervals, the accelerated 
motion, and so on increasing, until the greatest rapidity 
of which the voice is capable is reached; being careful 
to maintain the same general force and key. Thus:— 



• Slow. 



VELOCITY.; 



Medium slow 
Medium. 
Medium fast. 
.Fast. 



And lastly the inflections and other variations may, 
for convenience, be represented to the eye; though 
but few of these can be thus represented with any 
considerable degree of accuracy. A rude sketch of 
them might be given as follows, commencing with the 
upward or rising slide, through all its degrees of 
abruptness ; then the downward or falling slide in a 
similar manner; then the sweeps, waves and waving 



150 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

slides, as denominated by some authors ; so the bend, 
the swell and emphasis (very imperfectly however), 
and every possible movement of the voice may, as a 
matter of convenience, in concert vocal drills, be 
represented to the eye. Thus: — 




The advantage of this plan is, that it represents to 
the eye, what sometimes is too feebly represented to 
the ear, and for this reason, fails to reach the under- 
standing. A person can lift more with two hands 
than he can with one. For a similar reason, a pupil 
will more readily apprehend a fact or principle when 
his eyes and ears both are addressed at the same time, 
than when addressed separately. 

The foregoing plan possesses another advantage. 
It does not complicate the matter and confuse the 
scholar with a multiplicity of things at the same time. 
This is the prevailing error of the highly wrought 
systems and theories ; and of those who teach them. 
But according to the above arrangement of the ex- 
ercises, but one thing is attempted at the same time, 
and that is completed before another is commenced. 

It is not claimed, however, that this plan is complete 
or exclusive, or that some other might not answer 
equally as well. It must be remembered also that it is 
only given as an exercise in vocal culture — as a 
means of strengthening and developing the powers of 
t : ae voice, as a physical instrument. 



physical culture. 151 

Exercise. 

A sentence may now be selected for an exercise in 
Force, and the class is drilled in concert on all the 
forces indicated, and as many more as may be thought 
best. It will be found best to commence with the 
medium, and ascend or descend from it. Frequent 
and rapid changes, from one degree to another, may 
be made as a test of the ability of the members of the 
class to control their voices. With the necessary vari- 
ations, these directions will also answer for the other 
varieties. 

The class may be divided into sections after the 
members have acquired some skill and confidence, 
each section reciting in concert, and these again into 
sub-sections, until finally, the individual exercise may 
be given. 

Care should be exercised in these drills that the 
proper force, pitch and velocity are preserved, e. g., 
when the exercise is on force, the pitch and velocity 
should be preserved the same throughout ; when on 
pitch, the force and velocity should be uniform; and 
when on velocity the force and pitch should be the 
same throughout; on the variations, all should be 
varied more or less. 

These exercises, properly conducted, will certainly 
break up the most inveterate habits of weak voices 
and indistinct articulatiou. I have never known one 
so deep seated as not to yield, where a fair opportunity 
was offered. 

But the excellencies of these exercises consist in 
their universal usefulness ; for while they are practiced 
chiefly for their physical advantages, they constitute 
the very best means of teaching and training in that 
most useful of all arts, the art of speaking and reading. 



152 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Singing is nearly allied to these exercises, and when 
practiced in connection with marching, and hand and 
arm movements, as may be done in connection with 
the school songs prepared for these purposes, it becomes 
a very exciting and healthy physical exercise. But 
this would rank more properly with the next topic. 

Section 3 — Calisthenic Exercises. — Calisthenics, 
as its etymology implies, is a science which has for its 
object the cultivation of beauty and strength of body 
and limb. As an exercise for this purpose, it perhaps 
has no equal. It proposes to meet the precise diffi- 
culties and diseases that arise from study and over- 
confinement, the exercises being so arranged as to 
bring into activity those parts of the body suffering 
most from inactivity, and re-ting those parts that may 
have been overtaxed with exercise. 

We do not propose to give a full exposition of the 
subject here, it being sufficient for the present purpose 
to give the outline and allow teachers to consult text- 
books upon this subject, and to suit the particular 
exercise to the particular wants. 

It may, however, be classified for ordinary purposes, 
in the following manner : 

1. Arm movements. 

2. Body movements. 

3. Feet movements. 

For a full and complete description, and special 
directions in those exercises, as practiced in our best 
schools, the reader is referred to the author's Art of 
Teaching, Chapter Fifth. Article II L 



154 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



SYNOPSIS VI. 

Properties of matter (external.) Motion. 
Sounds. General phenomena. 



Natural 
objects. 



r OBSERVA- 
TION & EX--! 
PERIMENT 



Eh 

U 
Q 

P 

& 

o 

H 



CONVERSA- 
TION & DE- -\ 
SCRIPTION. 



Representa- 
tive. 



Initial and 

NAMES. 



Interesting 



Scientific 
facts. 



Rehearsals, 
&c. 



Apparatus. Models. Toys. Pictures. Num- 
bers. Directions. Symbols. Simple combi- 
nations. 

Words (written* denoting things. 
" " " actions. 

" " " qualities & relations. 

Tales. Sketches of travel and adventure. In- 
cidents in biography and history. Description 
of common things and occurrences. 

Natural phenomena. "Waking thought. Laws 
of life and health and growth. A knowledge 
of the arts and employments. 

Maxims. Mottoes. Sentiments. Rhymes. 
Poems. Lessons. Law. Correct menta! 
habits. Order. 



INVESTIGA- 
TION AND 
, GENERALI- 
V ZATION. 



r Relations. Adaptations. Chemistry. Agri- 
Physical j culture. Natural and mechanical philosophy 
science. j Marnematics. Art. Natural history. Laws 
V. of life. 



Language and 



Practical grammar. Composition. Philolo- 
gy* Literature. Criticism. Philosophy oi 
history. Politics. 



Attributes of intelligence. Laws of thought 
| Metaphysics. -( Existence. Duration. Infinity. Taste. IdeaT 
ity. Theories. Creations. 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 155 



CHAPTER VI. 

INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 

The intellectual education of man ranks among the 
highest duties of the age. It has claimed more atten- 
tion, however, than any other, since it has been thought 
that the intellect of man is about all there Is of 
him, worthy of special cultivation; a proof, this, of 
the high position it should hold in the scale of human 
elevation. 

So great has been the desire for intellectual culture, 
that both body and soul have been sacrificed, and are 
to this day, in many instances, in order to secure it. 
But the relationship and sympathy between all the 
powers and faculties of man are such as to forbid that 
one department should suffer without impairing the 
health of the other. Hence the very plans adopted 
to force intellect beyond the natural growth, have 
proved destructive, not only to other powers, but to 
the intellect itself, thus defeating the very object had 
in view, since upon the healthy condition of the other 
powers, depends the harmonious and safe development 
of the intellect. No forced measures, however suc- 
cessful they may have been for a season, have ever 
done more than to show that the order of nature can 
not be disturbed, in the slightest degree, without de- 
ranging the whole educational system. 

To the educator, it becomes a matter of the first 



156 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

importance, Dot only to understand the nature and 
character of these powers individually, but to know 
their relative value, and modes of treatment. 

The intellect has powers and faculties that have a 
mutual influence upon one another. The activity of 
one set of faculties, induces a corresponding state in 
others ; and the disease or inactivity of one, will in- 
duce disorder and abnormal growth in another. These 
powers do not all unfold or develop at the same time, 
nor in precisely the same order in different individuals. 
The same variety obtains here that exists every-where 
among nature's works. Nor yet do they individually 
come to maturity at once. They require their full time 
for growth, just as essentially as trees and plants do; 
and no attempt to hasten them will be tolerated. 

The order of development is a matter which de- 
mands consideration. There is first the bud, then the 
blossom, and then the fruit. But it would seem that 
this order is much deranged, and in some instances, 
almost inverted. There is a great desire to gather 
fruit from the blossom, and even from the buds. Man 
is too impatient of delay. And not only so, but he is 
disposed to search for fruit upon the wrong vines. This 
arises from an imperfect understanding of the nature 
and design of the faculties themselves, which results 
in a corrupt state of education. 

The most popular classification of mental faculties 
recognizes the following grand divisions, viz. : Intel- 
lect, Sensibility and Will. The intellectual powers, 
or those now under special consideration, have, accord- 
ing to their nature, and the offices they perform, been 
divided into two groups, viz. : the Primary and Second- 
ary faculties. These have their subdivisions, as Per- 
ception, Consciousness (which, perhaps, is more a 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 157 

mental state than a faculty) and Intuition, or Original 
Suggestion. 

These again have their several functions to perform. 
Hence arises another classification based upon use. 

Perception, for instance, may be classified accord- 
ing to the several organs through which it acts ; 
and the knowledges or apprehensions of externality 
that such action gives : such, for example, as smell 
and odors, taste and savors, touch and texture., tem- 
perature, hearing and sounds, sight and color, form, 
size, etc. 

These senses have also their interchangeable rela- 
tions, as experiments in the apprehensions of the prop- 
erties of matter would show. But it is not our pur- 
pose to give a strict analysis here. 

Consciousness and Original Suggestion also have 
their subdivisions according to use; the first giv- 
ing notice of the existence of the several mental 
states ; the second taking cognizance of cause and 
effect, individuality and place, number and infinity, 
duration and power, right and wrong, etc. 

The secondary faculties and their functions have 
been classified in the following manner : 

1. Understanding, whose functions are, first the 
JSTotion-forming power, which gives us our common 
ideas of whatever we behold or think about. These 
ideas may be general or particular, simple or complex, 
correct or incorrect. Second, Reflection or the power 
the mind has to dwell upon its own operations or any 
subject of thought. It is usually preceded by atten- 
tion and conception, which last may be true or false, 
vivid or weak. 

2. Judgment, including, first, comparison or the 
power to detect resemblances, or to discriminate: 



158 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

it deals with the notices furnished by the other 
facilities. Secondly, classification, which disposes of 
these, whether objects, facts or theories, according to 
their several peculiarities. Thirdly, argumentation or 
reasoning, which relates chiefly to terms, propositions 
and theorems, and the processes of deducing con- 
clusions from premises. 

3. Memory, the great treasure-house of the mind, 
whose functions are to receive, associate, retain and 
reproduce, when called upon, the materials entrusted 
to it for safe-keeping. 

4. Imagination, that pioneer of the mind, whose 
office is to enter into the ideal world, and to gather 
the raw material, or to take portions of that which 
may have been prepared, and to combine them into 
theories and creations, as the judgment or sense 
shall indicate, and the reason and taste shall decide. 

Now any modes of culture that do not recognize 
these facts and principles or similar ones, are liable at 
once, to be at variance with the natural order of 
development. These faculties all have their infancy, 
youth and maturity, corresponding severally to the 
periods of growth recognized as the Objective, Tran- 
sition and Subjective. 

It is pertinent now to inquire into the manner in 
which these faculties may be developed, so as not to 
interfere with and disarrange this beautiful order and 
harmony of things. 

It will be seen that Perception stands at the head of 
the list of Primary faculties, and Understanding at the 
head of the Secondary, and that these two are, in a 
great measure, concomitants, i. e., the notices furnish- 
ed by the perception, are readily apprehended by the 
understanding, and passed on to be disposed of aa 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 159 

the judgment may appoint. It will be observed fur- 
ther that the perception is furnished with a set of 
organs, through which it takes cognizance of the 
external world ; avenues leading inward to the world 
of thought and abstraction. 

low the object of education is not to interrupt or 
cut off these communications either way, but to am- 
plify and establish them, at the same time that the 
materials which go to awaken mind, are furnished 
through them. Hence intellectual education begins 
with the senses, through which early knowledge, the 
food for the mind, is received. 

Article 1— Observation and Experiment. 

This leads us at once to modes of learning and modes 
of treatment or teaching, which for the earliest pe- 
riods may be denominated Observational and Experi- 
mental, because the senses are addressed first ; and as 
soon as the observation or perception is complete, an 
inquiry as to what ? what kind ? when ? how ? etc., 
is begotten in the mind. This curiosity is planted in 
the human mind at this early period, for very wise 
and benevolent purposes. Were it not there, there 
would be no desire to know, and the child would be 
in a condition little better than downright idiocy. 
This desire prompts him to experiment, which is a 
second step in acquisition. Hence the ceaseless desire 
in young children to handle, and taste and examine 
objects ; and these again present to them ever new 
and ever changing varieties, which keep their obser- 
vational and experimental powers in a state of healthy 
activity. This early desire for observation is gratified 
only by indulgence. Color, size, form, temperature, 
texture and externality generally, constitute the first 



160 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

intellectual food for the faculties ; and experiment is 
one of the first processes, or exercises of application. 
The motions, sounds and general phenomena now 
attract the attention of the youthful learner, and he 
opens his eyes and ears upon the wonders with which 
this new and strange world abounds. The senses are 
astonishingly active in conveying their impressions 
inward, where they do their office work in awakening 
the incipient mind. But this subject, as it relates to 
very young children, has been alluded to in another 
place. This brief notice therefore must suffice. It is, 
however, a department of education, full of intense in- 
terest; and one with which the teacher should be very 
familiar. The more he knows of the infant, the 
better will he be prepared to know the man ; and 
knowing him, to direct him. 

Section 1 — Representative Knowledge. — The next 
advance the child makes from the object world, where 
his faculties are employed chiefly with things and 
their properties, is into the picture period, or period 
of representative knowledge. This has also been de- 
scribed under the head of physical culture, which is so 
nearly allied to intellectual culture at this age, as 
scarcely to be distinguished from it. Indeed, about 
all the intellectual culture a child needs, he will receive 
m his physical training, if that is properly conducted. 
At this age his education is supposed to be directed by 
parents, and its chief object will be accomplished, if 
he is furnished with the necessary means for investi- 
gation — such as toys, pictures, etc.. and the necessary 
facilities for imitating. 

Too much special instruction will interfere with the 
natural order of growth, and discourage the child in 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 161 

his pursuits. The proper training of a young and 
tender plant does not consist in excessive handling, or 
in warping and bending it, but in furnishing it with 
the necessary means of natural growth. So in refer- 
ence to mind, or the intellectual faculties. They need 
no overfeeding or cramming, nor yet do they require 
bending or incessant handling in order to secure their 
growth. They need the conditions of growth furnish- 
ed them in due proportion, and then to be let alone. 
They grow from their own internal sources, appro- 
priating the external as the means of growth. As 
much freedom, therefore, as is compatible with proper 
discipline, is a point to be aimed at here. For the 
school, however, it will be found that the exercises 
recommended in Chapter Fifth, Section 1 — Hand Cul- 
ture and those immediately connected with it — will be 
most effectual in cultivating the perceptive faculties, 
and in waking up other departments of the mind. 

The following exercises are recommended as in 
harmony with those already given ; and they may be 
used in connection with them. 

1. Exercises in counting and numbering, in which 
the numeral frame or counters may be used; and 
exercises in pointing, in which not only the points of 
compass may be located, but all places with which 
the pupil is supposed to be familiar. The inaccuracies 
and blunders arising from defective knowledge in 
reference to direction and distance, are most humil- 
iating. They may be corrected as shown above. 

2. Exercises in the combination of simple numbers, 
as addition, subtraction, and, for those more advanced, 
multiplication and division, both oral and written, will 
be found useful in cultivating the power of attention 
and quickness of apprehension. 

14 



i&2 nil 1 SCIENCE 01 Kin CATION, 

Section S— Initials anp Names, Oral and written 
exercises on words representing things, actions, qual- 
ities and relations, may be introduced, in whioh the 
whole vocabulary of common words might be brought 
before the mind, and so connected with common facts 
and transactions, that both their meaning and use' 
could be learned at the same time. The composition 
and analysis, the reading, spelling, and writing o( 
simple sentences should go hand in hand : so that 
when a child learns a thing ho may know it, wtain it 
and use it. 

Tims it will bo soon that the tedium oi' the Bchool- 
room, whioh becomes so oppressive and distasteful 
sometimes, may bo relieved by introducing theseexer- 
oisos along with others in common use. They are not 
designed to take the entire place of those now in use — 
except so tar as the latter can bo shown to bo faulty — 
but merely as auxiliary to thorn: so that that time 
whioh is usually spout in idleness, and that energy 
whioh is usually thrown away, and worse than thrown 
away, may bo profitably employed. 

It' it bo objected by any that time will not allow 
the introduction of additional intellectual exercises, it 
may bo answered that it' these exercises are as impor- 
tant as those now in use, they ought to share equally 
with thorn in time and attention: it' they are more 
important, they should receivea corresponding amount 
of attention. And wo might further add, that no 
teacher is worthy of confidence, who will persist in 
sacrificing the good of his pupils to public prejudice 
when ho sees and knows that his practices are wrong. 

The most vigorous thinkers are those who have 
boon taught thus early to make a praotical use of their 
knowledge; and the host teachers are those who thus 



'AL BbVCATlO) 163 

recognize the necessity and the laws itellectual 

\ty. 

Article 2 --Conversation and Description. 

That mode of teaching and learning which bri . _ 
into activity the greatest amount of mental force, and 
at the same time does not interfere with the order of 
the faculties, may be pronounced good — nay, the 

It is a well established fact that mental development 

is measured not so much by what a man knc" 
what he does: not so much from acquisition as from 
the ability to act — to act patiently, persistently, stead- 
ily, efficiently. Teaching, therefore, does no: ec 
so much in the communication of knowledge, as in 
imparting, by a well directed train of influences, the 
ability to acquire knowledge, to grapple with and 
•come the difficulties of life. 

It should, therefore, be the constant aim of the 
educator, to develop man's mental faculties, so that 
they may harmonize in all their bearings and relations 
with one another; so that there be no friction in the 
mental machinery, no jarring, no lagging, no fitful 
starts or flights, no unsightly growth nor seeming 
death. To do this it is ne • ■- to call into frequent 
and vigorous activity all the mental powers, and as 
nearly as possible all at the same time. This activity 
should not be merely the activity in acquiring, but 
in producing. 

One of the best modes of inducing this healthy play 
of all the faculties is by Conversation and jyeservpti&m* 
It refers more particularly to primary education, and 
includes both teaching and learning. A brief descrip- 
tion of it may be presented in the following manner. 



164 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Section 1 — Interesting Narrative. — Children 
from the ages of live and six to ten and twelve, are 
inveterate lovers of narrative, especially if it be of an 
exciting character. They are eager devourefs of sto- 
ries. Their literature is of an objective and descrip- 
tive nature. Hence it is a common thing for the little 
boy or girl to beset tbe mother or teacher for stones, 
etc. Their little minds do not seem to be satisfied 
with the stores of knowledge to which they have ac- 
cess — and this would be wrong if they were — they 
must seek it from another source. And during these 
recitals, mark the attention and the earnest expres- 
sion. They are lost to all except the incident before 
them. 

Now, this is one of the most educable points in the 
whole mental and moral constitution ; and being most 
accessible it is assailed from all quarters. This very 
disposition which was given for the very best of pur- 
poses, is rendered sometimes one of the most danger- 
ous, since through it the very fountains of the mind 
are corrupted : for this reason it should be most care- 
fully guarded. 

Again : the observations and experiments children 
have made, will have furnished them with sufficient 
stores to enable them to commence upon their own 
capital. Children delight to relate their own incidents 
and experiments; and in doing this, they are only 
pursuing one of the most effective modes of culture. 

Tales, Sketches of Travel and Adventure, form a 
large share of the literature of this age, but too much 
care can not be exercised in the selections. The char- 
acters and the incidents should be of an unexception- 
able kind, since upon their good quality and the mode 
of presenting them, depends the success of the plan. 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 165 

The impressions made should have a refining and 
elevating influence, or it were better none were made. 
The ambition to excel may be a holy or an unholy one. 
If it is prompted by a desire to excel others for the 
simple pleasure of being above them, it is wrong. If, 
however, it arises from a desire to excel for the purpose 
of elevating others to the same point, it is right. This 
holy ambition may thus, by a judicious choice, be in- 
spired to go forward, conquering obstacle after obsta- 
cle, until the aspirant has excelled even those whose 
noble deeds first inspired him. 

Care must also be exercised both in the selections 
and the modes of presenting these topics, so as not 
to foster a morbid desire for excitement, which not 
unfrequently leads to an indiscriminate devouring of 
every thing that savors of the wonderful or the 
sentimental. Hence the desire for fiction and fancy. 
But incidents in history and biography, and in fact 
this whole subject abounds in that which is not only 
wonderful but true; and which, if properly presented, 
will be equally palatable with the overwrought fiction, 
so much sought after by the young. 

These incidents etc., may be related in the school 
or family by the teacher or parent, and then at suit- 
able intervals, they may be called up in review and 
recited by the pupil. This will cultivate the memory 
and the power of narration, at the same time that it 
will convey a knowledge of most of the important 
events in history and biography. 

Another mode of cultivating the descriptive powers, 
and thereb} 7 training the intellect to habits of close 
observation and thought, is to require the pupil to 
give frequent descriptions of common occurrences. 
This will also afford an excellent opportunity for 



lt>6 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

cultivating a habit of telling the truth, a habit quite 
too rare in all circles of society. Many suppose that, 
in order to make a story interesting, it must be em- 
bellished with all manner of superlatives and exple- 
tives ; and hence they fall into the habit of exaggera- 
tion and falsifying to such an extent, that it becomes 
almost impossible for them to tell the truth, even 
when they wish. Though this is a moral evil, it may 
be corrected at the same time that these other im- 
portant intellectual results are secured. The practice 
therefore, of frequently, and it may be at stated peri- 
ods, requiring the pupil to give a plain unvarnished 
statement of common occurrences, will not only teach 
him to tell the truth on all occasions, but will cultivate 
his language, his power to reproduce, his habits of 
observation and thought, and will beget a desire for 
study and a love for the school. This will be per- 
fectly natural ; for whatever children can do well, 
they generally love to do. And instead of this prac- 
tice interfering in the least with the ordinary school- 
duties, it will only invest them with additional interest, 
and carry into them the same accuracy and practical 
earnestness and utility, that characterize the Descrip- 
tions and Biographical Sketches. 

Sec 2 — Scientific Facts. — There is a large class 
of Scientific Facts which may be communicated at 
intervals and during recitations, without any interrup- 
tion to the regular school duties. It is the most evi- 
dent intention that these things should be learned early 
in life, since the mind then is in the most favorable 
state to receive them, and since ignorance of them 
often leads to accidents, ill health and fatal results. 
Those most useful, and at the same time most inter- 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 167 

esting, are those connected with Natural Phenomena, 
Vegetable and Animal Life, the Laws of Health and 
Growth, and a Knowledge of the Arts and Employ- 
ments. 

The air, for instance, is one of the most common 
substances, and yet its properties are, at once, most 
simple and most wonderful. Now a few brief allusions 
to these by the teacher, or what is still better, where 
it can be done (and I know of no place where it could 
not), to give a few simple experiments, judiciously 
arranged, will usually awaken a greater interest in 
the study of Natural Philosophy and Meteorology, 
than half the text books in the land. These subjects 
themselves seem to be specially designed by the 
Author of nature, to evoke that kind of interest and 
mental development which, if left without these aids, 
too frequently slumber throughout the whole period 
of life. Tell the group of wondering pupils, on some 
occasion when their minds are in an inquiring state, 
that the air once breathed becomes poisonous, and is 
hence unfit for breathing purposes again, until it is 
purified by natural processes ; that this same air that 
is thus deprived of its animal vitality, goes to the 
vegetable world, freighted with the very pabulum of 
life for that department, where it is again purified, 
and fitted for the animal world ; and you awaken a 
train of thought which may go on unraveling these 
mysteries until it arrives at the very threshold of Deity. 
Tell them that trees and plants do really breathe, and 
you at once beget the inquiry, " What, and where are 
their lungs ? " What better opportunity could occur 
for a lesson in Botany ? The uses of the leaves and 
flowers will at once suggest themselves. They will 
readily understand, that in addition to the grateful 



168 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

shade and beautiful foliage they produce, they have 
an ulterior object, viz. : the growth and reproduction 
of the species. Tell them that trees not only breathe, 
but that they eat ; and the wonder of these inquiring 
minds will amount to astonishment. Let them think 
over it, and talk over it, before you explain it to them, 
and perhaps in a few days the whole neighborhood 
will be aroused to investigation. Books will be pur- 
chased, authors will be consulted, and mind will be 
awakened. 

Now is the time to describe to them the various 
kinds of soil, the processes of absorption from it, the 
ascent of the sap in trees and plants, its distribution 
to the buds and on the surface of the wood to form 
the new growth as in the case of forest trees : and, 
if the season is favorable, remove the cuticle, and the 
true bark, showing their uses and analogy to the 
cuticle and the cutis vera of the human bod}^ ; and 
let them see this distribution of embryo woody fiber. 
A.sk the boys, why they can not make their wooden 
whistles in midsummer and fall, as well as in the 
spring, and you will set them to thinking : you will 
throw an attraction about these subjects, which will 
make them the themes of constant observation and 
research. 

Tell them that the burning of wood in the stove, 
the breathing of air in their lungs, and the rusting 
of iron when exposed to the moisture, are one and 
-the same chemical process; and what better oppor- 
tunity could you ask, in which to convey to them 
some of the most important chemical knowledge ? 
It will beget a spirit of inquiry, that will result in 
more mental development than is ordinarily secured 
by years of teaching in the hum-drum routine of 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 169 

study and recitation, without these aids. And then 
again, there are the subjects of rain and hail, snow 
and frost, heat and cold, dew and fogs, winds and 
clouds, lightning and thunder, all these are common 
matters, and are fraught with intensest interest to 
children. 

But the topics need not be confined to one or two 
departments of science. The earth and the waters, and 
the departments of Natural History abound with 
wonders that are no less entertaining and instructive. 
This is practical knowledge, and its value is greatly 
enhanced, when it is remembered, that in addition to 
the above named benefits, this process is calculated to 
inspire a love for the study of the natural sciences. 
Animal life itself is a mystery which, while it defies the 
wisdom of man, presents some of the most wonderful 
and pleasing phenomena that abound any where in 
the whole range of science. 

The circulation of the blood, the digestion of the 
food, the processes of growth and elimination, of 
secretion and deposit, offer the same opportunities for 
waking up the mind. The flying of birds, the running 
of animals, the swimming of fish, and all the various 
phenomena, their habits, the adaptation of^ supplies 
to wants, of means to ends, seem fitted by the very 
hand of the Creator to inspire the young student of 
nature with a love for her walks. 

Then, immediately connected with this subject* is 
that of a knowledge of the Arts and Employments. 
Children living in the city exclusively, are usually 
ignorant of the arts, employments and modes of life 
peculiar to the country. Many of them can not tell 
whether flour is made from wheat or corn, whether 
buckwheat grows on trees or vines, whether butter is 
15 



170 TUB SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

a natural or artificial product, whether pumpkins, 
potatoes and melons are tropical or the products of 
their native soil. And they are equally ignorant of the 
modes by which crops are produced from the soil, and 
how the various products are manufactured into the 
commodities of common use. The country children 
likewise, are no less ignorant of city life, and of some 
of the commonest arts and employments, such as the 
manufacture of the articles of commerce, etc. 

Now if these things are worth knowing, they, may 
as well be learned early in life, so that they may yield 
a profit; and then they are such essential aids to the 
practical study of the sciences. They enlarge the 
circle of human knowledge, and prepare the mind for 
the successful prosecution of the practical duties of 
life. 

It will not be understood that these suggestions and 
recommendations shall form exclusive modes of cult- 
ure. This is uot their design. They are designed 
rather as aids to those already in use, and to suggest 
others more useful. 

Section 3 — Rehearsals, etc — There is another 
class of truths, more of a metaphysical nature than 
otherwise, which have a powerful effect in an educa- 
tional sense, and which are not conveyed directly by 
the modes heretofore described, but which may be 
brought before the mind in the shape of maxims, 
mottoes, sentiments, rhymes, poems, etc. These are 
simple and direct, and by virtue of the style are pecul- 
iarly adapted to the tastes and wants of the young. 

Much solid truth as well as encouragement and 
precept, which might fail to make the proper im- 
pression if clothed in the ordinary style, may be 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 171 

couched in a pithy maxim or motto. And what 
renders this style still more useful is, that facts and 
principles in this form are more readily learned and 
easily retained. Simple poetry possesses the same 
merits, but great care should be exercised in the selec- 
tions, so as not to corrupt the taste. All the above 
selections should be short, terse and not pedantic. 
Hence it is a good plan to have a large supply of 
these printed in large type, on cards of convenient size, 
to be suspended on the wall, where the pupils' eyes, 
while wandering about, will catch them ; and, at times 
perhaps when we are least suspecting it, they will be 
drinking deeply of the sentiment. This will have 
the effect to familiarize the mind with some of the 
most noble sentiments and important scientific facts, 
and to inspire the learner with noble resolutions to 
exertion and perseverance. 

It was upon this principle that the Israelites were 
commanded to " Teach these things to their children," 
(referring to the commands of God), " to write them 
upon the palms of their hands and upon the door- 
posts," where they would most frequently meet the 
eye. They thus became household words, fixed in- 
delibly in the memory, and became the strongest 
incentives to thought and duty. 

One of the grand objects of education is to learn to 
think, to train the mental faculties to habits of patient, 
persevering and persistent thought. The acquisitions 
are secondary to this, but most easily and readily 
made through it, and by it. 

At the age of which we have been speaking, there- 
fore, the formation of correct mental habits is a matter 
of the first importance, and should be kept constantly 
before the mind of the teacher. The education in the 



172 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

ordinary sense, is more than half accomplished when 
such habits are formed. The acquisitions then become 
a matter of pleasure. 

low, whatever may be said of the impracticability 
of these plans for awakening and training the mind 
to habits of thought and investigation, it is neverthe- 
less true, that they correspond more fully to the 
order of development and the manner in which 
children learn, than the ones usually practiced ; and 
that teacher who can not adapt the exercises of the 
school-room to them, should not teach. If these 
things can be shown to accord, both with the best phi- 
losophy and with the best practice, no flimsy apology for 
not adopting them should be listened to for a moment. 

Article 3— Investigation and €renea , alisation. 

In the preceding investigations and suggestions, 
we have kept steadily before the mind the order of 
the development of the faculties, and the best modes 
of awakening and engaging the attention upon subjects 
of study. It might be well now to inquire briefly into 
the means by which this research can be continued 
without interrupting the harmony of action and order 
of growth. 

The processes, or mental acts themselves, so far as 
they relate to acquisition and development, may be 
termed investigation — including analysis and general- 
ization. And the sciences, or subject in which they 
are employed, may be arranged under the following 
heads, viz : 1. Physical Sciences : 2, Language and 
History ; 3, Metaphysics. 

The term investigation, as employed here, is one 
of more than ordinary beauty and strength. It may 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 173 

be made to include all the processes by which the 
mind makes progress in science. It is the permeating 
of the mental faculties into the substance of knowledge, 
tracking it out, through all its various ramifications ; 
and so apprehending it, that the facts and principles 
become, not only familiar, but are assimilated to the 
mind itself, becoming a part of it, as the food by diges- 
tion and assimilation becomes a part of the living 
body. Knowledge thus nourishes the vital principle 
of thought. And in all vigorous and useful learning, 
the generalization processes follow, and even accom- 
pany the investigation as surely as digestion follows 
eating. It takes up the fragra ents as they are disen- 
gaged by analysis, and arranges them under their 
appropriate heads, referring indiv" duals to species, and 
species to genera, until the whole superstructure is 
complete in all its parts. The power of generalizing 
is the chief distinction between au educated mind, 
and one in a rude, uncultivated state. 

Again : two minds may be in the possession of the 
same amount of knowledge, and yet not be both edu- 
cated. The educated one will know how to use its 
knowledge ; but the merely instructed mind will be at 
a loss to know how even to retain its stores. Hence 
the difference in power and efficiency. The process 
of generalization is, therefore, of incalculable value 
to a teacher, since it gives him the power to arrange 
each topic of study in its proper order, so as not to 
disarrange the natural order of mental growth. 

Section 1 — Physical Science. — The physical 
sciences afford ample scope for the exercise of a large 
share of the mental powers. We have spoken of the 



174 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

manner of introducing these sciences to the notice of 
the faculties, and the means by which they can be 
rendered attractive. It will be sufficient for the 
present purpose to point out a few of the relations 
and dependencies existing between these departments 
of science, and the intellectual faculties they were 
intended to nourish, and to leave the detail to the 
modes of study, recitation etc. 

Nothing has been made in vain. Even the smallest 
atom of matter performs its humble part in the great 
economy of Omnipotence, as well as the ponderous 
globe that rolls in ceaseless grandeur in its ap- 
pointed orbit. The feeblest spark of intelligence has 
its appointed sphere, as well as the towering intellect 
of the tallest archangel. They all exist in mutual 
relationship. The one would not be complete without 
the other. They administer to each other's happiness 
and even to each other's existence. So mind was 
made for science, and science was made for mind. 
God made both, and the one for the other. This is most 
conclusive, and it would be foolish, if not wicked, 
to suppose that there is any antagonism between 
them. 

Mind lives and expands in science, while the latter, 
in turn, is enlarged and extended by the action of 
mind upon it. The benefits are mutual, while the 
action and reaction constitute one of the sublimest 
harmonies of nature. Not only is there a general 
adaptation of means to ends ; but it descends to the 
minutise. There are grades or steps in the several 
departments of science, exactly suited to corresponding 
grades or steps in mental growth. If it were not so, 
then this order would be interrupted, and science 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 175 

would mock our hungry minds. But He who made 
them, understood their relationship and wants, when 
he established this Divine order. 

Now it is the duty of the educator to seek out this 
order, and so to adjust the two as to bring them 
together at points where they will harmonize ; for 
unless they are thus brought together, there will be 
jarring and contention. The mind will rebel against 
the uncongenial labor and drudgery, while science in 
her turn, will yield but a meager bounty. She locks 
up her storehouses against all unwilling customers, 
and grants but a stinted dole to him, who seeks her 
treasures in unnatural channels. The questions, there- 
fore, to be settled at this stage of progress in mental 
growth, are, what is the extent or degree of develop- 
ment now existing in the individual, and what are 
the departments and steps in the same and different 
sciences, best adapted to carry it forward? These 
points can not always be determined by age, inclina- 
tion, or by the opportunity enjoyed ; nor yet are they 
the same with respect to any two individuals enjoying 
the same advantages. Hence the necessity of the 
most consummate knowledge of a professional char- 
acter, on the part of the teacher, that he may balance 
those points nicely. 

Perhaps, however, it is not given to human knowl- 
edge, in its present imperfect state, to avoid all errors 
in this adjustment, even were the materials furnished 
to our hands, in a perfect state; but the designs are 
nevertheless most evident. Because we are, by cor- 
ruption and consequent ignorance, incapacitated for 
this duty, is no argument against its existence, nor 
any excuse for not attempting it, any more than 
ignorance and neglect in observance of the laws would 



176 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

be excusable, because we were not all first rate law- 
yers. Much, therefore, should and can be done by 
intelligent effort, to render this subject plain, as 
the palpable errors now existing would abundantly 
testify. 

For instance : if we could indicate the educational 
capacity or susceptibility by a, and the degree of men- 
tal development by b, then ab would represent the 
mental condition or advancement of the individual. 
Now if c could represent the science or sciences, and 
d the department or departments in them, then cd 
would represent the educational force. In like man- 
ner, n might represent the power or true mode of 
application. Now when the first two sets of quanti- 
ties or terms are reciprocally and individually equal, — 
as far as quantities so unlike in kind can be equal, — 
viz. : a to c and b to <U and ab to cd, each raised to 
the nth power, then would the educational problem 
be nearly solved. 

But whether human knowledge shall ever arrive at 
that perfect state or not, is a question. It is never- 
theless obligatory upon us to endeavor to reach it, 
since a perfect state of education can not exist 
without it. 

We have two great departments of science, viz. : 
Physics and Metaphysics, each having subdivisions. 
These relate respectively to matter and mind. 

Mathematics and Language are somewhat pecul- 
iar, having characteristics belonging, in common, to 
Physics and Metaphysics. They are, as it were, con- 
necting links, binding the physical and metaphysical 
worlds. 

The first, as a physical science, investigates the 
properties of matter, and the laws and forces of the 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 177 

universe. It also deals with truths in the abstract, 
as the numerical quality of magnitudes, and magni- 
tudes in their relations to space, which give it a 
metaphysical character. 

The second, or Language, sustains about the same 
relation to these departments ; in that it gives ex- 
pression to all these relations, and the thoughts, feel- 
ings and desires that arise in the soul ; and it also 
represents the whole physical universe in its tangible 
forms, actions, qualities and relations. In these res- 
pects it is both metaphysical and physical. 

Geography and History are merely local, temporal 
and descriptive, terminating within the limits of 
man's possible knowledge. The others reach far 
beyond. Purely professional science teaches only the 
right application of facts and principles, evolved from 
physical and metaphysical research, so as to promote 
the ends of life. 

Here then we have the whole curriculum of sci- 
ences brought within this small compass. We might 
give the several subdivisions, did the necessities of a 
text-book require it. We therefore leave this part 
of the work to the learner, whose own investigations 
and classifications will be of greater service to him 
than any labored effort here.* 

At the beginning of this section we have given a 
brief exhibit of the several departments of mind and 
intellect, the faculties and their functions. We have 



* We take this opportunity, however, to refer the reader to a very 
ingenious classification of the Departments of Human Knowledge, given 
in a lecture to the " College of Teachers," at Cincinnati, by Roswell 
Park, and published in the proceedings of that body; also in the 
" Teachers' Indicator," a valuable collection of those lectures published 
in Cincinnati. 



178 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

also attempted a description of the general modes 
of culture, on through the primary period or that 
which relates to the perception, and through the 
secundo-primary, or that which relates to the pri- 
mary understanding, judgment, memory, imagina- 
tion, etc. The sciences and the several faculties now 
stand arranged, as it were, one over against the other. 
Neither can yield the full result without the aid of 
the other. 

While it is true, that some sciences are more attract- 
ive than others, and some better calculated to develop 
certain powers of mind than others, it does not follow 
that each faculty elects its particular science, or is 
elected by any particular one. This would be at war 
with what has hitherto been advanced on this subject. 
But the mind, rather, elects departments in all the 
sciences — itself being elected by all — -not however 
with the same strength of affinity. 

It would not answer, therefore, to appoint one par- 
ticular science to the task of educating a particular 
faculty, any better than it would to set one particu- 
lar faculty at work upon one particular science. "What 
could unaided perception or memory do, for example, 
in mathematics? or judgment or imagination in phi- 
losophy or history ? or the reasoning powers in lan- 
guage? It requires, therefore, a combined action of 
all the faculties, as well as the combined influence of 
all the sciences, to produce the results anticipated by 
an education. 

Natural and Mechanical Philosophy, Chemistry, 
Agriculture and the Arts, Mathematics, History and 
Geography, so far as they relate to matter, may be set 
down among the physical sciences as those well adapted 
to develop the understanding, judgment and memory, 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 179 

as well as to quicken the perception and reason. The 
understanding is rendered quick and accurate in its 
apprehensions and conceptions, by the study of these 
sciences, not one of which is without its influence. The 
judgment, in comparison, classification, and arrange- 
ment of facts, principles and theories, is chastened, cul- 
tivated and refined. The memory has all it can do in 
receiving, associating, and storing away or retaining 
the material furnished by the united action of all the 
faculties, and in reproducing it, when called upon for 
that purpose. 

Section 2. — Language and History. — It now be- 
comes necessary to inquire briefly into the nature and 
influence of Language and History and kindred sci- 
ences. The harmony, mutual influence and benefits 
are even more marked here than in the preceding. 
All the faculties, including the imagination, to some 
extent, find ample room for exercise in Practical 
Grammar and Composition ; Philology, Criticism and 
General Literature; Chronology, Philosophy of His- 
tory and Politics. 

We will not undertake to decide upon the precise 
amount, or even upon the exact quality of the influence 
exerted by any particular branch of study upon the 
mental powers; for these results would be governed 
in a great measure by natural capacity, age, advance- 
ment, inclinations, and other modifying circumstances. 
But the fitness or unfitness of each will be determined 
by the existing wants. Neither will it be understood 
that if a pupil manifests a fondness for any particular 
branch that he is to be allowed uncontrolled indul- 
gence in it; nor yet is it the best policy to check him 
up entirely, thereby, it may be, putting an end to 



180 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

mental activity. The faculties may derive strength in 
all, or even in a few, of the sciences ; but they seldom 
have a like preference for all. The course to be pur- 
sued, therefore, must be determined not by one or a 
few of these circumstances, but by all of them com- 
bined. 

The course of study must be determined by the 
wants, and not the wants by the course of study. It 
should bend to the scholar, i. e., the real wants of the 
scholar, and not the scholar to it. This perhaps is 
one of the greatest necessities connected with courses 
of study. Nature never bends to accommodate our 
whims. She often, however, permits us to go unre- 
buked for a time. Justice often lingers long ; but when 
she does call us to account, her reckonings are most 
fearful. 

Section 3 — Metaphysics. — Lastly it will be proper 
to inquire briefly into the nature and influence of 
Metaphysical Sciences. 

They stand, perhaps, among the highest for the cul- 
tivation of the Reasoning and the Reflective powers. 
Their influence, however, is not less potent upon the 
Imagination, and indeed upon all the secondary 
powers. 

The Attributes of Intelligence and Laws of Thought 
are intricate enough for the most searching analysis 
and the closest reasoning. 

Existence, Duration and Infinity, are broad enough, 
deep enough, high enough, vast enough, it would 
seem, for the infinite mind, and hence for reflection 
of the highest order and the most far-reaching imag- 
ination. Man's feeble powers can but falter here; 
but they gather strength in efforts to fly. 



INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION. 181 

Taste, Ideality, Theories and Creations invite the 
imagination and fancy to revel in the exhaustless 
stores of their respective fields. They go forth, not 
alone in their excursions into the ideal world. All 
the powers accompany them, whence they return, 
laden with 1 he spoils gathered, it may be, in a hundred 
battles with Science and Art. 



LS2 



THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 



SYNOPSIS VII. 

^ Love of kindred. Family ties. Love of the 



r Philanthropy \ race. Sociability. Equality 
j I teem. Friendship. Love. 



Kespect. Es- 



( Home attachments and influences. Nativity. 
'AFFECTION. \ Patriotism. \ Laws. Institutions. Love of right. True' 
I bravery. 



f Love to God. Purity of heart. Reverence. 
Religion. \ Meekness. Submission. Adoration. Faith. 

I Confidence. 



f Ideas of God the basis of conscience. Ideas 
r Moral sense. \ of right and wrong. Intuitions. The love 
L of truth. Fidelity. Integrity. 



\ CONSCIENCE. - 



( Relating to the family and Social compact 
Moral duties. \ Relating to country. Laws. Institutions. Re- 
L lating to mankind in general. Honesty. 

f To worship God in public and private. To 
duties \ ' ove our ne ig nDor as ourselves. To visit the 

I fatherless and widow, &c. 



WILL. 



r Instruction in matters of right and wrong, 
-j Trust in the rectitude of a higb 
I ergy and perseverance in duty. 



^purpose. 11 ~i Trust in the rectitude of a higher power. En- 



r Strengthening good resolutions. Obedience 
C SrTKOTio!f \ t0 su P eriors - Lavv " Submission to suffering. 
L Privation. 

r Direction and control by superior force. Ep- 
Executive j counter with difficulties. Temptations. Re- 
volition. 1 straint. Moral suasion. Energy and perra> 
t verance in duty . 



183 



CHAPTER VII. 

MOEAL, SOCIAL, AJSTD RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 

The Moral Education of man is a theme which has 
engaged the attention of the educationist and essayist, 
for the past few years, to a greater extent than almost 
any other. Indeed, it has become quite an educational 
hobby. Long lectures, and earnest essays have been 
multiplied to such an extent, that one would think 
the world is fast approaching a revolution in its 
morals and religion. And yet we have a bad world. 
Notwithstanding Christianity has in eighteen cen- 
turies wrought astonishing changes in our civilization, 
laws and social refinement ; notwithstanding she has 
wrested science, art, commerce and literature from 
the iron clutch of Paganism, and infused her life- 
giving spirit into our political and social institutions ; 
yet I say, we have a bad world- too bad, indeed, for 
unaided morality and human philosophy ever to re- 
form. Indeed, vice and crime of every dye seem to 
multiply right in the midst of all this light; and it is 
questionable whether the world would ever grow any 
better — nay it is quite certain it would not — under 
the brightest beams of the most exalted system of 
human philosophy, unaided by the gospel of Divine 
Truth. Man's heart must be reformed if the world is 
ever reformed, and its stains are too deep to be cleans- 
ed by mere human means. There must be a union 
of forces to produce harmonious results. 



184 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

Now, most men are willing to admit these truths ; 
but too many stop with the bare admission of them. 
But few seem to regard them (if we may be allowed 
to judge from the amount of attention bestowed upon 
them in teaching) of any further importance, than 
a very fine speculative theory. Their practical results 
are very rarely tested, in connection with our systems 
of instruction. But the bare admission of the im- 
portance of a thing will never bring the thing to 
pass. The admission that drunkenness is an evil, and 
that stealing is a crime, will never punish theft or 
reform drunkenness. Our practice must, in all cases, 
correspond with our theory, if we ever expect to 
reform the world. 

I have sometimes thought that if a being from 
some other world should pay our earth a visit, for 
the purpose of ascertaining what kind of creatures 
inhabited it, and should happen to alight in some of 
our school houses, and there form his opinion of our 
nature, exclusively from the exercises before him, he 
would wing his way back again, with the mournful 
intelligence, that man has no soul. For ho would 
hear nothing about it, and see nothing. Nothing 
would be done, perhaps, from one week to another, 
to induce him to form a conclusion that man has a 
moral nature ; but, on the other hand, there would 
be on the part of many teachers, a studied effort to 
avoid any thing that would lead to such suspicions, 
or betray the fact that man is endowed with an im- 
mortal nature — a living soul. Now, whether such 
teaching as this will ever effect any thing for the 
moral and social elevation of the race, I leave for 
candid and honest judges to decide. 

Or suppose again, that we do recognize the exist- 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 185 

ence of a moral nature in man, and teach the pupil 
a code of morals culled from the highest-toned moral 
philosophy man's wisdom ever devised, and yet leave 
his heart untouched, save by the potency of human 
precept : think you, there would be the warm out- 
gushing of the living, breathing, loving spirit of 
Christianity in it ? Think you it would restrain him, 
and sustain him in the dark hours of temptation and 
affliction ? I tell you nay. The fact is, there is no 
sound and enduring morality without Religion. The 
best organized governments, and the best modeled 
social cc mpacts testify conclusively upon this point. 
Religion, or piety, is the basis of every sound principle 
and every redeeming feature in man's nature ; and 
the attempts to make him moral without making him 
religious, are like the attempts to change the leopard 
to a kid, by feeding it with milk, or to produce a crop 
of roses from a growth of thistles. The adder's sting 
is not removed because he is petted like a harmless 
thing ; nor the viper's fang, because he lies in your 
bosom. We do not say by this, that moral acts can 
not be performed, and from good motives too, by 
those who may be irreligious ; but we do say, that 
just as soon as the motive which impels the act, pro- 
ceeds from the right source, that moment the act 
approximates a religious act in the truest sense of 
the term. 

Let man's heart be right, and then all the acts pro- 
ceeding from it, will be right also ; but let it be evil, 
and the issues can not be otherwise than evil ; because 
" The same fountain can not send forth bitter water 
and sweet. " " A corrupt tree can not bring forth 
good fruit, neither can a good tree bring forth evil 
fruit. " " Either make the tree good and his fruit 
16 



186 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

good, or the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt ; for 
the tree is known by his fruit. " 

All the cold rules of morality you may hang about 
a man, if they do not affect his heart, will only gall 
him like so many chains, weighing him down with 
their unnatural burdens, and revealing more and more 
the corruptions of his heart. To throw the white 
mantle of morality over the dead carcass of sin, is 
like " painting the sepulchers of dead men's bones. " 
To fill a wicked heart with moral precepts alone, is 
like the "parable in a fool's mouth," or the "jewel 
of gold in the swine's snout. " True religion, and 
true morality, are therefore inseparable in their true 
results. The attempts to sunder them are like the 
attempt to separate the heat from the fire, the light 
from the sun, or the colors from the rainbow. The 
moment you do it, it dies. You paralyze every ener- 
gizing principle, and the shapeless mass of morality, 
falls a cold, heartless thing. And the attempts to 
separate science and religion are not less destructive 
to the vitality of both, and are doing more, to-day, 
to destroy the effects they were designed to produce 
upon the human race, than most men are aware. 
They were made to go hand in baud. 

When we shall come to recognize, in our practice 
as well as theory, the great fact, that man is by nature 
a religious and social being, and that morality is noth- 
ing more than the legitimate fruits of the right cul- 
ture of these natures, — or this nature, we might 
almost say ; for they can scarcely be distinguished in 
their origin and effects, so intimately blended are they 
in the composition of human nature- — then we may 
reasonably expect the improvements of which educa- 
tionists have so loner dreamed. 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 187 

Man becomes circumscribed in his nature and influ- 
ence, just in the proportion that he is deprived of any one 
or more essential ingredients or elements of character ; 
and he increases in power, goodness and majesty, just 
in the proportion that he is allowed full and free scope 
to all his legitimate powers. If, therefore, it can be 
shown that man has a religious and social nature, and 
that upon the right cultivation of these natures will 
depend his true moral character and greatness, these 
being the true basis of morality, the way then will be 
clear for the establishment of modes of culture which 
shall be effective in moral training ; for it is not to be 
supposed that these things are at all beyond the reach 
of educational influences. But just so long, depend 
upon it, as man is treated simply as a moral being, in 
the sense in which we usually apply that term, without 
attempting to purify the fountains whence issue the 
streams; these issues will continue to burst forth, 
leaping every barrier, breaking down all inclosures 
and soiling the whitest garments with which he can 
be clothed. 

In making suggestions in reference to moral and 
religious training, we do not propose to usurp the 
authority or prerogatives of the church, or even to make 
theology a branch of study. This belongs to a separate 
branch of morality, yet not antagonistic to the former. 
!Nor yet do we propose to dispense with any of the 
institutions of Divine appointment ; for herein cousist 
the whole merits of any mode of culture, which has 
man's true refinement for its object; but we simply 
mean to make use of means that spring up around 
man, by virtue of his nature and associations ; or that 
seem, as it were, to be born with him ; and which if 
not used for his moral elevation, will, from the very 



188 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

same circumstances, be turned against him to work 
his moral degradation. 

Article 1— Affection. 

Man has affections, conscience and a will, as well as 
body and intellect; and the first three constitute the 
foundation upon which chiefly rests moral and reli- 
gious culture. Or, in other words, the proper training 
of these will result in a symmetrical moral character. 

It will be necessary here to distinguish between 
good affections and bad ones, as the term, by most 
authors, is made to include the evil passions, as well 
as the good ones, or moral sensibilities. But all that 
is necessary will be accomplished by naming those to 
be cultivated, which cultivation will act as a check or 
restraint upon those which need this kind of discipline ; 
so that the whole object will have been accomplished 
by the simple cultivation of the good affections. 

The following classification of these affections will 
be found convenient and comprehensive enough, viz. : 
Philanthropy, Patriotism and Religion. These include the 
love of man, the love of country and the love of God, 
as the basis of all that is good in man's affectional 
nature, all that is worthy of cultivation ; and out of 
which grow all the endearing relationships, social, 
political and religious, that appertain to man as such. 

Section 1 — Philanthrope, in its most general sense 
means the love of mankind, that general benevolence 
which takes into its wide embrace the universal broth- 
erhood of the race, which desires alike the freedom, 
development and happiness of all. It is antagonistic 
to human slavery, for philanthropy rejoices in uni- 
versal freedom and development of all man's powers, 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 189 

physical, intellectual and moral. Slavery teaches man 
to bind his brother in hopeless bondage. Or if it denies 
the brotherhood of the two races, it still involves a 
monstrous iniquity. It mingles those two races, and 
then allow T s a man to bind and sell his own race, and to 
make a chattel of the human soul. It teaches— nay 
it commands him to withhold the means of intellectual, 
moral and social refinement, which philanthrophy 
commands to be given him. Hence it is at war, at 
once, with the first and great principles of universal 
benevolence. But it is not our purpose to discuss thig 
subject here. A simple statement of the general prin- 
ciples could not be avoided. This is all that is 
necessary, in order to teach our children to hate slavery 
and to love liberty ; for, in accordance with our 
premise, just in proportion as we develop universal 
benevolence, we create a love for the one, and an 
abhorrence for its opposite. 

But there are other evils of scarcely less magnitude, 
if not political, at least more general, crying right at 
our doors ; which evils universal benevolence would 
seek to drive from the abodes of men. We refer to 
the needless and odious distinctions that prevail in 
what is termed refined society, by which the child is 
taught, in the most forcible manner, to respect and 
love one class of society, and to disrespect and despise 
the other. This is one of those polite, unobtrusive, 
yet insidious vices that makes its inroads upon us in 
the most stealthy manner, taking advantage of the 
very likes and dislikes of our nature, commencing at 
the very beginning of our intercourse w r ith the w T orld, 
and wielding a power over human conduct and human 
happiness scarcely equaled, and never excelled, by any 
other vice. It is scarcely less criminal in its ultimate 



190 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

results than human slavery; since, when it ripens, and 
takes possession of the human heart, accompanied as 
it usually is by a lust of power and gain, it teaches 
man to defraud, devour and oppress his neighbor. It 
is, therefore, the very root of bitterness in the sin of 
slavery. It is antagonistic to the law of God and the 
revealed character of God ; for the first teaches to love 
our neighbor, and the other informs us that he is no 
respecter of persons. 

When shall our people learn the true sources of 
happiness and greatness? When and where is there 
a better time, and a better place, to teach these things 
than in the family and in the school, in which the 
character of the man and the woman is forming? If 
it is deferred until later years, that character will be 
warped by a thousand counter influences. A dem- 
agogue and a hypocritical state of society are the 
very worst teachers of morality and religion — except 
in a negative way — that could be employed. 

The questions again recur, " When and where are 
the most befitting places, and who are the best teach- 
ers of these things? " We answer,as before indicated, 
"In our homes and in our schools, and by our parents 
and by our teachers." The home influences and asso- 
ciations are the strongest. The school, which should 
be modeled, as nearly as possible, upon the same prin- 
ciples, so that it may take up the same course of train- 
ing, is next in strength, and the stepping-stone from 
the family to the community of families. Both of 
these institutions, viz., the family and the school, are 
only preparatory to the great institution of human 
society, to which the pupil graduates at an early age. 

Parents are the natural and rightful guardians of 
youth ; and, by virtue of this relationship, they have 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 191 

an influence over them that none others can have. The 
teacher, by virtue of his office, is in loco parentis, for 
the time being, in which position the parent delegates 
to him all the powers he relinquishes, and even grants 
him rights and privileges in common with himself. 
Thus, in a proper state of society, the child is never 
without a guide — a constant text-book in morals. It 
becomes necessary now to inquire into the nature and 
potency of these educational forces, and at the same 
time, into the modes of applying them. 

The love of kindred, or special philanthropy, is among 
the first affections of the human heart that show signs 
of development; and hence it demands the first atten- 
tion. This is exhibited in the first answering tokens 
given from the child to the mother. The means of 
culture have been briefly described in the preceding 
chapters. It may not be inappropriate, however, to 
add that the love of kindred or family ties — the affections, 
constitute not only one of the dearest bonds on earth, 
but the basis also, or germ of universal benevolence. 
These affections embrace, 1. Parental love, or the love 
the parent bears to the offspring ; and 2. The response 
to it, or filial love. The fact of its existence on the 
part of the parent first, is only in accordance with 
what is observable in every other department of na- 
ture, the former acting as a stimulant upon the lat- 
ter, calling it out and giving it character. It might 
seem selfish at first, but not more so than all other 
early manifestations, relating to our sentient organism. 
The desire for food, for example, is among the first, 
and seemingly selfish ; yet it has the most benevolent 
object in view. Here then we behold the buds of 
affection making their appearance among the very 
first manifestations of intelligence. 



192 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

JS'ow, if the dews and the showers, the sunshine and 
the shade of parental love, are shed upon these, in due 
proportion, they will unfold their tender leaves, reveal- 
ing the morally beautiful, just as surely as physical 
beauty is developed under corresponding influences in 
the physical world. But how they wither and die, or 
take on some monstrous growth, when nipped by sel- 
fishness and neglect, or scorched and blasted by the 
hot breath of anger and revenge ! Hence, those cor- 
ruptions of the affectional nature, that manifest them- 
selves in the form of the evil passions. They do not 
exist because they were planted there by the hand of 
the Creator : they are nothing more nor less than the 
fruits of a monstrous, perverted or dwarfed growth 
of the good affections, produced by the poisonous 
breath of sin. The family, therefore, and school, 
which is only a generalized family, should contain all 
the nurturing elements that feed those tender plants, 
until they shall strike their roots deep in the soil of 
the human heart, and lift up their branches to the 
sunlight and the breeze, and shed their fragrance 
upon all the surrounding world. 

It is wonderful to witness all the manifestations of 
a human being, even for a short time. In doing this, 
it will not be sufficient to take cognizance of the ex- 
traordinary occurrences alone : the ordinary events, 
and the common occurrences are the true indices to 
the nature and wants of the child. Every motion and 
every desire is significant of some passion which is 
destined to reign or riot in the human heart. They 
only appear insignificant because we do not compre- 
hend their depth of meaning. 

To an uncultivated mind, and an eye unaccustomed 
to trace the delicate workmanship of nature, a ledge 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 193 

of rocks presents nothing but a huge, misshapen mass. 
But the student of nature sees harmony and beauty 
in every part, and reads in legible characters the dates 
and names of the several geological periods. Both 
of these individuals may look upon a meadow, clothed 
in verdure; the one sees nothing but grass, the other 
sees a hundred beautiful flowers. They listen to the 
music of nature : the one hears a noise, the other lis- 
tens, transported, to the rapturous hymnings of harps 
attuned to the sweetest melody. The one can scarcely 
bear the tedium of nature's walks, or the long, dull 
silence that reigns in her bovvers ; the other recognizes 
himself addressed by every sight and every sound ; and 
if he had a thousand eyes and a thousand ears, he 
could find employment for them all, for every hour. 

Thus it is with children and teachers. One person 
looks upon a child. He sees nothing but a rude, med- 
dlesome, deceitful pest, and usually treats him accord- 
ingly : the other sees slumbering there all the elements 
of true manhood, nobility and godlike power. The 
one sees in every look, and motion, and thought 
nought but selfishness, craft and guile, and treats him 
with every mark of suspicion and disrespect : the 
other looks beyond the mere outward act, to the mo- 
tive that impelled it, and by a word or look he antici- 
pates his desires and checks the rising storm, or feeds 
the noble flame. 

So one mother hears her infant when it cries, and 
she administers to its wants, as she does to the calf's 
or the pig's : another hears it even before it cries, and 
feasts it upon the pure milk of human kindness. The 
one hears in those torturing screams, nought but the 
rude expressions of selfish desire, or spleenish want: 
the other analyzes those infant wails, and recognizes 
17 



194 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

in them the tones of anguish or anger, of suffering or 
legitimate desire; and knowing, she is prepared to 
treat those desires judiciously. The one hears an 
angry broil among her brood, and rushing in with 
wicked words and maddening blows, dealt right and 
left, she assaults the contending parties, and succeeds 
in putting them to flight, and it may be to silence. But 
what a silence ! Mark those flashing eyes, as they 
gleam, fiery red, each upon his antagonist from their 
lairs, and shoot their angry arrows into each others 
hearts. Think you they are subdued? So then is the 
tiger chafed by his prison bars. The other hears the 
contentions of her little ones, fierce it may be, but her 
heart swells, unutterably full of emotions, for the 
future of the man ; and, with these struggling for 
utterance, she speaks, but not in anger. Her melting 
tones fall upon those hearts like oil upon the troubled 
waters ; and the little ones, attracted by their sorrow- 
ful tenderness, glance quickly into that tearful eye — 
their anger is forgotten. They hasten to their mother's 
arms — the asylum from the storm — to seek her pardon 
and a reconciliation. 

~Sow we have drawn two pictures from real life, it 
may be one from each extreme ; but the intermediate 
grades are scarcely less influential. We leave them 
to be filled out by the reader. Under the latter treat- 
ment, the elements and conditions are favorable to a 
vigorous growth ; and as the processes go forward, 
these desires ripen into other forms of affection. The 
little children have been taught the first lesson, at 
least, in morals and religion, viz. : "to love one an- 
other : " and these affections, losing none of their 
essential characteristics, as a filial bond, go on widen- 
ing, and deepening, and strengthening, until they 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 195 

embrace the whole human family. The very affec- 
tions that cling so tightly about the mother, father, 
sister, or brother, gather sufficient nourishment and 
strength from these sources, to enable them to shoot 
out their branches and tendrils,, and to entwine about 
other objects; and hence commences a more compre- 
hensive growth — a love for the race. This prepares the 
way for social culture. We have spoken of the first, 
viz., General Philanthropy, or a love of the race, at 
the beginning of this section. We shall therefore 
devote a few pages to the latter, viz., Social Culture, 
as a means of securing the highest degree of moral 
and religious development. We shall commence by 
noticing some of the hindrances to the progress of 
religion, arising out of a want of social development. 

One of the chief hindrances to the progress of 
morals and religion, is the cold and forbidding aspect 
these subjects seem to wear to the young. But these 
are by no means their natural garbs; they are only those 
which have been thrown about them by a mistaken 
idea as to the true nature and intent of these subjects. 
If any thing in the wide world should be attractive, 
it should be piety or religion, which has the same 
import as wisdom, as used in the Bible. " She is a tree 
of life to them that lay hold on her," etc. " Her price 
is above the price of rubies. " " Her ways are ways 
of pleasantness, and all her paths are paths of peace. " 
" The path of the just shine th brighter and brighter, 
unto the perfect day," etc. B at it is unnecessary to 
extend evidence upon this point. The whole Bible is 
a mountain of testimony ; and ten thousand living 
witnesses have testified to the same fact. Beauty and 
truth are inseparable companions. They are both 
equally attractive to the moral nature of man, 



196 THE SCIENCE OE EDUCATION. 

It will be necessary, however, to distinguish between 
the really beautiful or attractive, and that which is 
deceptive, having only the appearance — between sen- 
sual pleasures and those of a higher order. Religion 
or "Wisdom ever represents the latter, and in that 
sense she should be held up to the young. She de- 
prives man of no rational enjoyment. Indeed she 
hightens every earthly pleasure, and assuages every 
earthly sorrow. Every earthly blessing grows doubly 
dear, when piety throws her pure mantle over its en- 
joyment. It is true, she teaches us to deny ourselves 
of the sinful pleasures of the world ; but in 'this we 
only exchange dross for gold. She teaches us to 
" take up our cross, " etc., and to wage a continual 
warfare against sin ; but in all this, we are more than 
compensated, not only by the peace of conscience, 
and the lively hopes and joys inspired within, but by 
the conscious strength we acquire ; and the very air 
we breathe, becomes more precious, because of its 
source. Our friends become more dear, because we 
can love them with a purer, intenser affection. Our 
property is enhanced in value to us, because we can 
use it (in which consists the only pleasure we can 
derive from it) to promote the happiness of our fellow 
men, and to advance the cause of our Master. 

Tf n£j body should be happy, it certainly should be 
he who has a title to both earth and Heaven. If any 
body on earth should laugh, it should be the good 
man ; if any body should mourn, it should be the bad 
man ; for " the way of transgressors is hard. " " The 
wicked are like the troubled sea that casts up mire 
and dirt. " " There is no peace for the wicked, saith 
my God." " The lamp of the wicked shall be put 
out." All the family and social ties are rendered 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 197 

doubly dear, because they are hallowed by the sacred 
influences of piety. But while it is our purpose to 
show the nature and necessity of social culture, it 
seems necessary at the same time, to show that such 
culture will not be antagonistic to man's religious 
nature. 

That man is a social being, no one but a hermit 
would deny. We have shown that he is a religious 
being, and a moral being. Now if his social nature 
is in antagonism with either of these, we at once dis- 
cover a war among the constituents of man's nature, 
which criminates his Maker, and makes man the sport 
of contending forces. In assuming the foregoing 
position, it is not necessary to assert or deny that the 
good in man is continually waging war against the 
evil, and the evil against the good. This is entirely 
an independent issue, involving the circumstances and 
effects of the fall; and whatever views might be 
taken of that, would not at all interfere with the firsv 
position, viz. : that man has a social nature, demand- 
ing culture, in common with other departments ; 
which culture, so far from interfering with the others, 
constitutes one of the strongest and the safest aids. 
Neither is it sufficient to say that this department 
will provide for its own necessities. The instances of 
lamentable deficiency, as well as perverted growth, 
prove an entire refutation of the position. 

It becomes necessary therefore, to point out some 
of the modes of culture to be adopted, which will 
not interfere with, but will promote man's physical, 
intellectual and moral growth. And here it might 
be well to add that the chief, and perhaps the only 
reason that modes hitherto adopted, have \ roved 
faulty or insufficient, is that they did not recognize 



198 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

all there is essentially in man ; and the fact, that in 
order to make any one department of education suc- 
cessful, it must be accompanied by all the rest. And 
because they have failed, to some extent, the task 
has been abandoned as a hopeless one ; or it has 
been handed over to those entirely incompetent, 
who have prostituted every power to pleasure, and 
to the gratification of the senses. These have failed 
more signally than any others, since they have at- 
tempted to develop man's social nature, not only inde- 
pendently of his morals and his intellect, but in direct 
opposition to them. 

Now we hold it as a cardinal point, that the good 
things of this world should be in the hands of the 
good, since none others seem so well fitted to enjoy 
and perpetuate them. It is equally tenable, that they 
should have the control and direction of the educa- 
tional influences, since these are among the good 
things. The moment they relinquish their hold upon 
any one or all of these, they fall, from necessity, into 
the hands of the bad ; since they must exist some- 
where, and there are but these two classes of persons 
in the world, among whom they can exist. 

Nothing, therefore, can be clearer to one having an 
unclouded perception, and an unbiased mind, than 
that the social nature of man does need attention, and 
that these influences should be looked after, since they 
invariably take one of these two directions. It follows 
also that the direction of man's social culture should 
be in the hands of the wise and the good, since it is a 
matter of such delicacy and danger, that it least be- 
comes -the hand of a novice or a knave. 

The inquiry then arises, what shall be its nature and 
characteristics? In answering this question, it will be 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE, 199 

necessary to revert to man's original constitution and 
natural wants. These can only be determined by 
careful study, which will reveal the fact that he is a 
being of unabated activity, and ceaseless desires ; that 
he invariably seeks companionship with his kind, 
lie seeks company that he may give vent to those 
social desires and induce a lively activity of the 
faculties, since in their activity their pleasure alone 
consists. Now the questions arise, what shall be the 
nature of this companionship, and what employment 
shall engage his faculties ; since upon the right or 
wrong determination of these points, will depend the 
success or failure of the whole thing. 

In answer to the first, all will agree that the better 
the companionship, the better for the man. He would 
derive little benefit from the companionship with 
monkeys or savages. His habits and character will 
partake more or less of the influences surrounding 
him. Hence the higher, purer, holier and more refined 
those influences, the more beneficial the results become. 
And it is proper to remark here, that his regard, 
respect, esteem, friendship and love all rise or fall to 
the same level, and will take their character, to a great 
extent, from the qualities of the objects upon which 
they are bestowed : i. e., the purer and more exalted 
the object of affection, the purer and more exalted the 
affection itself. Hence a man can not love a horse or 
a crocodile as he can love his own species. The seem- 
ing exception to this rule is accounted ' for on the 
principle of perverted affection. 

It is equally manifest that if companionship of the 
highest order is withheld, man will seek that of a 
lower grade. But, that he should seek that of an in- 
ferior order, without some strong reason, would be as 



200 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

strange as that he should love deformity and hate 
beauty, or that he should seek pain and shun pleasure. 

We have cases on record, it is true, of man's seeking 
and cultivating companionship with the inferior an- 
imals, and even with insects; yet this has always 
occurred, when he was driven by crime or other cir- 
cumstances from the society of his own kind. Here, 
then, we have a true index to man's companionship. 
It should always be with his own kind, and should 
partake, as largely as possible, of all the ennobling 
elements and refining influences which shall give a 
harmonious activity to all his faculties, intellectual, 
physical, social and moral. 

Now the question arises, since man has found his 
companionship, and since this calls for employment, 
What shall this employment be? Shall he do good, 
or shall he do evil? is the question to be decided. 
We have spoken in preceding chapters, of the various 
kinds of employment, suited to man's several wants — 
such as labor, study, recreation, etc., but have not 
spoken particularly of social amusements. 

That the desire for amusement does actually exist 
in man, no one can deny. But whether it is there by 
command or consent, is a question that might trouble 
some. In either case, we are under equal obligation 
to provide for it, or for its removal. We infer that it 
exists by command, since God has made such abun- 
dant provision for its gratification, and since it is, in 
itself, both innocent and useful, as we shall have 
occasion to show as we proceed. Now if God has 
created nothing in vain, then the desire for amusement 
is for some purpose. If it is for some purpose, that 
purpose is either a good one or a bad one. To admit 
the latter would be to charge God with evil. 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 201 

Says Dr. Paley, " We never discover a train oi con- 
trivance to bring about an evil purpose. ~No anatomist 
ever discovered a system of organization, calculated to 
produce pain and disease ; or, in explaining the parts 
of the human body, ever said, ' This is to irritate ; 
this is to inflame ; this duct is to convey the gravel to 
the kidneys ; this gland to secrete the humor that 
forms the gout.' So in relation to the faculties of the 
mind. Who has ever discovered faculties there de- 
signed to demoralize and debase us ? Who in explain- 
ing them ever said, ' This is to make you profane, this 
to make you intemperate, this to make you cruel, and 
this to make you dishonest. 7 " 

This is a very fair exposition of the argument, and 
shows conclusively that God has not only not made 
anything in vain, but has made every thing for some 
wise and useful purpose. He has made man just 
right, and the world in which he has placed him, just 
right. All the wrong is chargeable to man himself. 
Another proof that the desire in man for amusement 
is a natural desire, is found in the fact that he has, 
from time immemorial, sought after it; and where 
attempts have been made to deprive him of it, they 
have resulted in disaster to some of his powers by 
entire abstinence, or driven him to excess in an 
opposite direction ; as the monkish asceticism on the 
one hand, and the shameless abandonment to pleasure 
on the other, are but too sad commentaries. 

Again : The laws of God, as revealed in his written 
word, as well as upon every object of nature, and 
especially in man's own body, as well as upon his 
mind and morals, all testify, as with one voice, that 
man needs amusement just as essentially as he needs 
his food and sleep ; and that if he is deprived of it, 



202 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

though the disasters are not so visible, yet they are 
no less certain. 

And again : the young of all animals play. It is 
as natural as that the sun should shine when it arises, 
or that plants should bloom and thrive under his 
genial influence. Children need play for their phys- 
ical and social development. Without it, they would 
become a race of drones and misanthropes. If there 
is any thing in this dark world, calculated to make 
glad hearts, it is the merry sports of childhood and 
youth. 

But the old need it also. It will not answer to say, 
that this is all well enough for the young, but that the 
old should abstain from such frivolities. They need 
its life-giving influence ; if not to engage in it them- 
selves, at least to witness it. It is the sunshine of 
life. It makes them live over again their youthful 
days, and infuses new vigor into their bodies. It were 
as grave an error in philosophy that should teach that 
the aged and middle-aged do not stand in need of 
amusements, even if they be of a graver sort, as that 
would be which should teach that the sunshine and 
the showers are all well enough for the flowers and 
the tender plants, but that the giant oak and the 
ripening grain have no need of such light and trifling 
things. How long would the oak live without sun or 
rain ? When would the grain ripen ? We have an 
answer to these questions in the untimely death of 
mortals, and the unripe condition of mind, body and 
morals. 

The question, therefore, is no longer " Shall we have 
amusements ? " that is decided. It is now, what kind ? 
And who shall superintend them ? The first would 
involve a longer description than the limits of this 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 203 



chapter will allow. We would simply remark, how- 
ever, that some of the best and most ennobling of 
these amusements have been discarded by the religious 
world, as vicious and contaminating in themselves. 
And because they have thus been driven out of the 
best society, and all moral restraints removed from 
them, they have sought refuge among the vile, and 
have hence become contaminated. 

Whether, upon the whole, it would be wise to at- 
tempt to purify and reinstate these amusements, is an 
open question. It is nevertheless certain that they 
either should be, or else others of equal merit should 
take their places. This conclusion is inevitable from 
the nature and constitution of the human race, as well 
as from the sad abuses to which amusements have 
been prostituted. One of the most popular of these 
social amusements, and the only one to which we 
shall call attention, is that of dancing, at once a science 
and an amusement, and in itself entirely innocent 
when properly conducted; as much so, surely, as sing- 
ing, or walking or talking; yet unfortunately, like 
poor Tray, it is suffering from being found in bad 
company. 

Now since men and women, and boys and girls, 
will, and must from necessity seek society; and since 
this institution is organized for the benevolent purpose 
of refining the feelings and manners of its members, 
as well as to contribute to their enjoyment ; and since 
when thus assembled, the time either drags heavily 
and uselessly on, or else is filled up with vain, insipid 
and trifling conversation,, or — what is still worse, since 
all the powers want activity — w T ith boisterous plays, 
and rough and uncultivated and uncultivating con- 
duct; and since health, intellect, morals and physical 



204 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

development, grace, ease and dignity in bodily move- 
ments, as well as a healthy flow of good nature, all 
seem to entreat for some employment and cultivation ; 
and since, in the great majority of instances of inter- 
course, the usefulness, and consequent happiness of 
the individual are measured by, and are dependent 
upon, his ability to make a proper use of all his pow- 
ers, especially those which relate to personal address; 
therefore, it does seem necessary that some amusement, 
having the greatest possible number of these objects 
in view, at once simple, cheap, harmless and attrac- 
tive in itself, should be adopted for the benefit of all 
classes. 

If it be objected, that dancing would lead to balls, 
routs, masquerades, and all that giddy dissipation 
which now form the chief, and indeed, almost the 
only valid objection to it: let it be answered, that 
these are mere accidents, and mostly traceable, too, to 
the neglect of those who complain ; but that they are 
not the necessary results, any more than the extremes 
or excesses in other employments are necessary. It is 
not a valid objection against singing, for instance, 
that it happens to be prostituted to base uses; nor yet 
against language, because it is employed by the vile 
to convey bad thoughts. What would be thought 
of the moralist, for instance, who would not talk, 
because somebody had made a bad use of language. 

But if any thing better than the dance can be 
adopted, let it be done: no good man or woman, cer- 
tainly, would object; and the bad might thereby be 
the more easily reclaimed. But there is that about 
the dance, when conducted to the sweet strains of 
music, which renders it at once the most pleasing, soul- 
cheering and refining, both to body and mind, of any 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE 205 

mere social exercise. In saying thus much we are not 
pleading for nor apologizing for the miserable abuses 
of this practice, the objectionable forms which have 
obtained in the most corrupt classes of society. It is 
not more necessary to include these in this science, 
than it is to admit all the vulgar songs in music, or all 
the obscene and profane words in language. The fact 
is, all those irregularities and abuses would gradually 
disappear, if the science were cultivated, and the prac- 
tice recognized and superintended by the wise and 
prudent. It is questionable whether any exercise, 
whether social, religious, or otherwise, would survive 
long, in its purity, were it subject to like abuses ; and 
it is quite likely that many of the social and religious 
exercises, if not all of them, would be liable to as fatal 
extremes, were they submitted to as rude hands. 

This leads us to remark, in the second place, that 
this exercise, in common with all other rational amuse- 
ments, needs regulating"; or like all others committed 
to the young and inexperienced, it will run into fatal 
extremes. And first, it should be regulated as to 
time, place and frequency. Let us glance at the 
present practice. Notice is given that in six weeks 
there is to be a grand Fourth of July or Christmas 
Ball, at such a place, and so and so. Tickets of invi- 
tation are circulated, but not always to the most wor- 
thy. Of course, it will be a grand time, and the 
excitement begins to rise, to the neglect of other 
duties. Preparations are to be made, and a needless 
expenditure for clothing never again to be worn, must 
be ventured. The time arrives : and the parties, ill- 
clad it may be for the season, assemble ; and under 
the most exciting circumstances the exercises com- 
mence. But the room is ill ventilated (yet it must 



206 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

needs be closed), and the air soon becomes vitiated. 
The youthful revelers become intoxicated, mad with 
pleasure, and heated with excitement. No one is 
there to check them — no father, no mother to chide or 
counsel, no minister of grace to mingle his seasonable 
advice, — they are all young, and anything like moder- 
ation would be treated lightly or with suspicion, at 
least. 

Father or mother, do you see your daughter there, 
whirling in that giddy throng? Do you see your son 
there, reeking in excitement? Look, but tremble for 
their safety. The soul and body are both in danger. 

. But attend longer. It grows late in the 

evening — Nine Eleven it is One; and 

they may have been thus engaged from One or Three 
of the preceding day. But, " on with the dance," and 
dissipation now becomes more bold ; and dissolute con- 
duct and the vulgar jest mark the demeanor of that 

young But we quit the scene. The hour 

is now four in the morning, and the youthful revelers 
repair to their homes; but think you with light 
hearts ? The past to them appears like a dream ; but 
it will not soon be forgotten. They go to their homes, 
amid the exposures of inclement weather and poor 
protection, to spend a blank, unhappy day, dreaming 
in morbid sentimentality over the last night's revel. 

Now, is this physical culture ? Is it intellectual cult- 
ure? Is it moral culture? It is neither. It is down- 
right murder of body, mind, and soul ! Yet, who is 
to blame ? Who but those who have the power to 
correct these abuses, and will not use it? Who would 
be to blame if you, parent, kept your child in such a 
situation that his physical powers had become so re- 
duced by hunger as scarcely to possess vitality, and 



207 

the mind judgment; and in this starving state, you 
should turn him loose to a table loaded with all the 
delicacies and dainties of a refined restaurant, if you 
should find him in a few hours a bloated corpse? 
Who would then be to blame? Nothing but necessity 
and ignorance would excuse you in the eyes of the 
law. But neither of these would excuse you in the 
eyes of God or the world. And yet your conduct, in 
reference to your child's amusement, has been perhaps 
precisely of this character. He has been deprived of 
the privilege and benefits of it at home where it be- 
longs, it may be for months at a time ; and then, on 
some extra occasion, he is turned loose without any 
restraint, except the feeble resistance offered by his 
own judgment, to glut himself to repletion upon that 
which is most intoxicating. What could be expected 
but excess ! It were far better not to indulge at all, 
or to get a beggarly subsistence upon that which is 
thrown out by the wayside, than thus to. abuse our 
powers. 

But this is only a faint sketch of the evils of modern 
dancing. What remedy shall be proposed? What 
but that which should be prescribed for any other 
natural want? Regulate it, both as to time, place and 
frequency. Regulate it, or abandon it altogether! The 
time should not infringe upon the hours of labor, 
devotion, or rest. No midnight revels should there- 
fore be tolerated. 

The place should be free from all the objections 
described in our picture, and should, if possible, be at 
home; because it is a home and family amusement, as 
much so as family devotion is a home exercise, though 
both may be practiced abroad. And here allow me to 
ask, what impropriety there would be in bringing 



208 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

these two exercises together, or at least in close prox- 
imity ? For if amusements of this kind are worth 
any thing — if they are right, they are worth asking 
God's blessing upon ; if not, it were better to abandon 
them. 

The same regulations with regard to frequency, 
should be observed, that obtain in other habits — as in 
sleeping, for instance. The objects will not be attained 
by resorting to them once a week, or once a month, 
or only on extra occasions, any more than the objects 
of eating and sleeping could be secured by resorting 
to a similar course in reference to them. Other regu- 
lations might be offered, as to mode and degree of ex- 
ercise ; but they will readily suggest themselves, if 
amusements of this character are entered into, with a 
proper spirit, and with a proper object in view. As 
to the former, however, we might add that all modes 
or figures that have the slightest tendency to excite 
undue levity or mirth, or to awaken evil desires, should 
be studiously avoided. No crazy waltz or giddy polka, 
or any other objectionable figure, should ever be allowed 
a place in the social circle, much less in the family 
training of boys and girls. 

But who are to be the superintendents of these 
exercises? We have just seen that it is no more 
safe to intrust this department of education to children 
themselves, or to wicked and designing men, than it 
is any other department. The answer then to the 
question is this : The leading minds in education and, 
religion. If the wise and the good do not regulate 
them, the wicked and profane will ; because they must 
exist, and it is for the former to say, whether this im- 
portant educational force shall be wrested out of their 
hands or not. 



209 

If amusements were under the strict surveillance of 
the parent, the teacher and the preacher, just as other 
departments of education are, and treated in as rational 
a manner, we submit, would not the evils arising out 
of them speedily disappear? But until these func- 
tionaries shall come forward, and proclaim a reform in 
them instead of standing off at a respectable distance, 
and hurling their anathemas at them, the probabilities 
are, they will continue where they are, or perhaps will 
retrograde. 

This mode of suppressing the evils resembles the 
ridiculous farce of Dame Partington, armed with her 
mop, disputing the right of the sea to the possession 
of her own humble dwelling. And it is reported that 
the sea beat the old lady in that memorable contest, 
notwithstanding her excellent mode of warfare. So 
we are apprehensive, the battle with these amusements 
will most likely terminate, unless the mode of attack 
is changed. The fact is, any attempt to suppress these 
amusements without providing a rational substitute 
for them, is too much like the attempt would be to 
remove all food or exercise from man, because it so 
happens that some food and some exercise are not 
profitable, or that some men become gluttons, and 
others kill themselves at hard work. 

"We have spoken candidly, frankly and somewhat 
pointedly upon this vexed question. We have tried 
to show the absolute necessity for safe and wholesome 
amusements ; and we have pointed out the errors and 
excesses, and shown the necessity for moral and 
religious restraints as the only corrective. We were 
compelled, from absolute necessity, to take this ground, 
however reluctant; because we conceive it to be 
wrong to attempt to conceal any part of the truth. 
18 



210 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

We therefore leave the reader to form his own con- 
elusions after weighing carefully the testimony pro 
and con. 

Section 2 — Patriotism. — The next topic under 
moral and religious culture, claiming attention, is that 
of Patriotism. 

It may not readily be understood how this subject 
belongs to morals; but it will be seen, upon closer 
examination, that the influences which cultivate a true 
love of country, and inspire the spirit of bravery, are 
of a purely moral character, and can be traced back, 
in most cases, to home attachments and influences. 

Again : it may not at first be easy for every one 
to see how this virtue can be cultivated in the school 
or family ; but a little reflection will disclose, not only 
its true sources, but the surest means of development. 
Home, if it is a home in the truest sense of the 
word, is the most hallowed spot on earth. With what 
fondness we are accustomed to revert to scenes of 
early childhood ! Our weary pilgrimage in life may 
have cast a shadow over our brightest prospects ; and 
our present abode may have become anything but 
desirable ; but there is usually one spot on earth, about 
which the memory lingers with a dreamy fondness. 
That spot is the dear old home, where the world first 
revealed its wonders to us. 

The traveler, far from his native land, when night 
closes in upon him, instinctively turns to gaze upon 
the setting sun ; and quick as thought, visions of the 
past and of the dear native home flit across his mind, 
and he lives over again for a few brief moments his 
childhood days. The soldier, dying in a foreign land, 
breathes in his comrade's ear his last faint accents ot 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 211 

home and the loved ones there. The manner, strug- 
gling upon the wave as his gallant barque goes down, 
catches glimpses of home, and his last sad wailings, 
mingling with the crash of waters, tell but too feebly 
how he loved his home. If this were not sufficient to 
prove the love of home to be an affection, worthy to 
be cultivated, that inimitable ballad, " Home, home, 
sweet, sweet home" etc., is sufficient of itself to canonize 
the feeling, and to render it ever a matter of pleasure 
to think of home. There is therefore a home affection, 
and this constitutes the basis of patriotism. It only 
needs, like other affections, the fostering hand of the 
true teacher, to give it its proper direction, and the 
home affections expand, and embrace the whole 
country. 

Now, just in proportion as home, the mother of 
patriotism, is made home-like and happy, will these 
attachments grow and become, not only among the 
strongest barriers to the incroachments of vice, but a 
sentiment, when fully expanded, that will be one of 
the strongest ties to fatherland. It will soon go out 
and attach itself to country, laws and institutions, and 
become the strongest motive for the defense of the 
right. This presupposes, of course, that these laws 
and institutions, etc., be based upon sound principles. 
Otherwise there might be alienation and rebellion, 
instead of attachment and patriotism. 

It will readily be seen that when the home and its 
surroundings are such as to inspire these warm attach- 
ments, the individual not only derives the greatest 
enjoyment from them, bat he is cultivating those 
affections which constitute the basis of true bravery ; 
for what is that patriotism worth which has no stronger 
incentive than mere mercenary motives, or the lust of 



212 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

power ? The spuriousness of such patriotism has been 
fully tested, and the genuineness of its opposite fully 
established, in contests between parties actuated — the 
one by mere passion or the lower propensities, and the 
other by those lofty sentiments of honor and affection 
which arise from this early home attachment, and 
from a consciousness- of right. Our own country 
affords examples of this, while all history abounds in 
similar testimony. 

Let home be made the pleasantest spot on earth, 
and children will instinctively love it; and in indulg- 
ing this natural desire, they learn to love their country, 
laws and institutions. 

Section 3 — Religion. — Nothing is more apparent 
than that man is prone to pay religious adoration 
to some being, either material or spiritual. There is 
both a contrivance, which indicates design, and a 
sphere of action to suit the mechanism of the human 
soul, which clearly point out its destiny. 

When man was first created, we can easily imagine 
him to have possessed all his faculties in a state of 
perfection. Every power glowed in an ecstasy of de- 
light, and moved in perfect harmony with the world 
of beauty into which he was introduced. Not a jar, 
nor a discordant note, was to be heard in all the glad 
anthems that ascended on high " when the morning 
stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted 
for joy." Man walked abroad in all his innocence, 
majesty and beauty. And such was the exaltation of 
his powers — even the same powers that he now pos- 
sesses — that he held direct intercourse with his Maker. 
But in an evil hour he put forth his hand to disobe- 
dience and fell from his exalted position. A moral 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 213 

night ensued, more dense and terrific than that, when 
the Spirit of God moved upon the great deep of chaos, 
and brought light out of darkness, and order out of 
confusion. A blight came over the whole face of 
nature, and the ground was cursed for man's sake, 
requiring additional physical toil to subdue it. His 
faculties partook of the general blight, descending to 
a fearful depth of depravity. He goes forth to struggle 
with his fortune and to finish his career, but not 
without hope ; for no sooner had the fiat which drove 
man from the garden, gone forth i than preparations 
were made for repairing the breach. Even the com- 
mand which is supposed by some to contain the 
heaviest curse, to wit., " In the sweat of thy face shalt 
thou eat bread all the days of thy life," etc., is big with 
mercy, and contains the very preservative element of 
the race, viz., labor; for without it, man would sink 
into imbecility. 

No sooner therefore had man fallen, than infinite 
goodness and wisdom set about devising his redemp- 
tion. A ransom is provided and promised in the 
fullness of time, but a struggle for his faith here was 
necessary, as well as sweat from his brow in the phys- 
ical world. The first should win life to his soul; the 
second, bread for his body. In this we see not only 
man's redemption, but his education epitomized, and 
religion, or a reunion with his Maker and a renova- 
tion, and a reinstatement of his faculties are most 
clearly recognized; for " As in Adam all die, so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." Christ, or the second 
Adam, therefore becomes the medium through which 
man is again to approach his Maker — the link that is 
to reunite that which was alienated by sin and wicked 
works : for Christ who knew no sin became sin for us. 



214 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

i. e., satisfied the demands of a broken law, and thereby 
reconciled believers to God. "He took upon himself 
not the nature of angels," but assumed our humanity 
and God's divinity, that he might effect this recon- 
ciliation, which seemed impossible on any other terms. 

Now, if this is the nature of religion, why should 
we either fear it or be ashamed of it? Why should 
we esteem it lightly or even a sacrifice, since it confers 
upon mortals the most exalted relationship and honor 
that can possibly exist, even the relationship of sons 
of God, and heirship jointly with Jesus Christ the 
Son, to " an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and 
that fadeth not away." Such in brief, is religion, and 
as such, it now becomes necessary to inquire how it 
can best be inculcated in the hearts and minds of 
children. 

By referring again to man's original or natural con- 
stitution, we find him possessed of certain marked 
peculiarities, which render the inculcation of religion 
a matter of necessity, in order to cancel all the claims 
his own desires have upon him. Man's whole affec- 
tional nature is but a living and perpetual commentary 
upon religion ; aud one of the most interesting features 
of the home attachments and love of country, etc., as 
described above, and of philanthropy or the love of 
the race, both general and special, as described further 
back, is the ripening or culminating of these affections 
into the purest, holiest and loftiest sentiments that can 
actuate the human mind — I mean the love to God — 
the crowning excellence of all love and all affection. 

The student should be careful while investigating 
the nature of man's affections, not to confound their 
use with their abuse. For instance, we speak of 
philanthropy or love of the race, and patriotism or 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE 215 

love of country, etc. Now the legitimate sphere of 
these is diametrically opposed to that inordinate affec- 
tion or lust of power or gain, which is denominated 
in holy writ, the love of the world, which is enmity 
against God. This is the very antipode of those 
affections which we should seek to cultivate. We 
believe the world and all that is in it (sin excepted), are 
legitimate objects of love instead of hatred; that when 
properly loved, they lead us to the great source and 
fountain of love, and the object of adoration. God 
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
son to die that he might redeem it. And shall we 
hate it? 

The very fact that those things which were made 
for our comfort and happiness, and which should 
be the means or instruments of leading our affec- 
tions outward and upward, are made objects of 
suspicion, dread or aversion, by a misguided appre- 
hension of sanctity, constitutes the strongest reason 
why religion, the true source of all happiness, wears, 
to some, such a repulsive demeanor. In consequence 
of our ascetic notions, we often defeat the very 
object we wish to accomplish, viz., the inculcation 
and development of religious sentiments and feelings 
in the hearts of children. We do not make it a matter 
of every day duty and conversation. We only bring 
it forward -on extra occasions, and allude to it in the 
most awful gravity of style. This makes children 
dread it. 

Now I would not divest it of any of its awe or 
majesty, or give it any other character than what it 
really has ; but I would invest it with its own lovely 
character. I would connect all our happiness with it. 
I would make it one of the most attractive subjects of 



216 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

conversation, instead of one of the most forbidding. 
I would make all other interests and exercises bend 
to this. I would hallow life's duties with it. Indeed, 
I would make it the one great object of life, and 
mingle it with every earthly enjoyment. It would 
thus sanctify every other blessing and defend its 
possessor against the encroachments of vice. It should 
be worn as a shield, rather than as an amulet. It 
should defend man, rather than that he should defend 
it. It should be his strength, rather than his weakness. 
It should be his delight, rather than his aversion. It 
should sanctify him, rather than that he should 
sanctify it. In a word, it should be the star of his 
hope, and the crown of his rejoicing. 

But we can not better illustrate this point than by 
quoting a few pungent passages from a little work 
recently published, entitled, "Life Made Happy" The 
author is laboring to prove that religion is happiness, 
not misery, when he remarks, in effect, that " there 
is one aspect in which asceticism is still more destruc- 
tive to the cause of Christianity than almost any other 
one thing. I allude to that strange feature in the 
character of the great body of Christians — that their 
religion does not seem to set pleasantly and happily 
upon. them. They do not wear it as they would a 
precious jewel, where it may be observed by all that 
meet them. They don't clothe themselves in it as a 
garment of every day. How seldom is religious conver- 
sation ever ventured upon on ordinary occasions! 
How seldom is it brought forward, except when it 
must be ! How seldom do we see a man who enters 
into religious conversation as freely, as easily, and 
apparently as happily, as he discourses about his busi- 
ness ! Why is this ? The reason is obvious. Relig- 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 217 

ion is made a very solemn and a very gloomy subject. 
Is it not so? Does your pastor, does any one address 
you on the subject in the same tone of voice, with the 
same joyous countenance with which he addresses you 
on other subjects? Is not the introduction of religious 
conversation a signal to hush all joyous sentiments, 
and to call in all the smiles? Is it not required? Can 
it be expected that our religion will be worn by us 
evary day, if it must be done with a cloud on our 
brow T ? Or can we be expected to obtrude it upon 
others if the effect of it is to cloud their brows also ? 
No ! Religion can never be an every-day matter, can 
never enter into our common conversation, — it can 
never be a part of our lives, while it assumes its pres- 
ent gloomy character. 

The gospel of Christ can never command that suc- 
cess which it is calculated to meet with, and will meet 
with, until that ascetic dead weight is removed. No 
man willingly chooses to be gloomy and sad himself, or 
to be the occasion of gloom to others. Why is it that 
the G-ospel of Christ has made so little progress in 
the world? Why were the apostles, with their limit- 
ed means, so much more successful than their succes- 
sors with steam-presses ? Do you not believe there is 
a defect somewhere in presenting it ? I submit, is it 
not in this gloomy feature of it ? Why should not a 
Christian be the happiest man in the world, and wear 
the happiest countenance, and talk joyously about the 
blessed abodes beyond the skies? Can we expect 
that religion will be generally embraced until Chris- 
tians are so ? 

Why should religion and religious subjects be so 
gloomy a matter ? What is there in them to call for 
it? Are tbey any thing more than discourses about a 
19 



218 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

final and a happy home, and the way there? Ought 
we not to look upon those distant abodes as a child 
looks upon his distant home, when far away; and 
thinks of it, dreams of it, talks of it to his compan- 
ions, and finds the theme ever bursting from his lips 
before his superiors? Compare him., as with eye 
brightning and countenance beaming, he discloses his 
young anticipations of delight, when emancipated and 
suffered to fly to that home of bliss, with another child, 
his brother, perhaps, who is alike exiled from home, but 
who is studiously silent on the subject, when excited 
at all with enjoyment, and only brings it forward at 
set times, when he must do it ; and then it is done 
with a countenance and a tone of voice betokening 
any thing but its enjoyment. Which of those children 
would soonest interest you in that home of his? 
Which of them would soonest tempt you to partake 
with him of its hospitalities and joys? and which of 
them would give you the most lively evidence that 
he so loved that home that nothing would tempt him 
to forfeit his title there ? " 

Such are the views of this author: and we might 
add, that while we would not be willing to become 
responsible for all the interpretations that might be 
put upon them, yet we are willing to vouch for the 
general sentiment. 

Having thus pointed out some of the characteristics 
of pure religion in the first part of this article, and 
called attention to some of the obstacles that impede 
its progress, it were sufficient perhaps to add, that it 
does not consist in creeds, formulas, confessions, doc- 
trines and dogmas, however excellent they may be, 
but in that love to God, and purity of heart which an 
unclouded belief and a living faith alone can insp re. 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 219 

Its results are the peaceable fruits of righteousness, 
and its life is the life of the soul. " Pure religion and 
undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit 
the fatherless and the widow in their affliction, and 
to keep himself unspotted from the world." It is 
not all faith, nor yet is it all works, but a happy and 
consistent blending of the two. It may not be amiss, 
therefore, to allude briefly to the manner in which it 
may be inculcated. 

It has been shown that ti?ue religion caB flourish to 
its fullest extent only when the affectional nature of 
man is fully developed ; — that universal benevolence, 
and the love of home, country, and kindred which 
characterize the individual while subject to these in- 
fluences, may, under proper training, be made to con- 
verge all these energies in the one great object of 
affection — the God of the universe — thus bearing the 
whole tide of man's affectional nature to the great 
central point, where culminates every virtue, and 
around which clusters every grace that adorns the 
Christian character. Under these influences man's 
esteem ripens into veneration for the character and 
goodness of the Creator; his reverence into adoration; 
and his friendship into love; while purity of motive, 
meekness, submission under the provocations of life, 
and faith and confidence in God may characterize and 
possess the whole soul of man. 

The manner in which this may be encouraged may 
be briefly summed up or indicated thus : The child 
loves its parents ; but by conversation, teaching and 
pure example, its little mind may soon be brought to 
realize the fact that God is its father and the direct 
source of every comfort that administers to its wants, 
and every delight that swells its heart; and all this, 



220 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

too, without at all diminishing the strength of the 
parental bond. It loves its brothers, sisters, kindred 
and friends ; and all these, including its parents, are 
the legitimate objects upon which the affections are 
first drawn out; but by a mere gratification of a spirit 
in man — a desire for an object of worship higher than 
mortal — these desires take on a higher development, 
and attach themselves to the elder brother, even Jesus, 
and to kindred in the skies. It may love the brother- 
hood of the race ; yet this is not weakened but 
strengthened by a love that purifies and exalts all 
others — the love for the Redeemer and the redeemed. 
It may love its home and country ; but these are only 
types of that better land where there shall be a fall 
development and fruition of every noble sentiment 
that now swells in the human heart. 

~Now we have shown in another place that these 
things are teachable, and that just so far as they are, 
they are placed in the hands of parents and teachers: 
and we here add, that that system of education that 
does not recognize them as cardinal principles, will 
never meet the wants of the human race as it is now 
constituted. And since it is unsafe to defer the teach- 
ing of these things until their opposites become estab- 
lished in the heart ; we must therefore look to the 
family, the Sabbath School and the Common School, 
to take charge of these matters. And since the whole 
subject is thus teachable, and thus committed for the 
most part to these institutions, it is their duty, at once, 
to set about classifying and arranging these subjects, 
so that they may be taught and inculcated in the 
hearts of children at an early age. Let lessons be 
given regularly, and in due proportion, on those sub- 
jects ; and what is still better, let them be mingled 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 221 

with all our teaching of whatever character ; so that 
every lesson may make the child better just in the 
same ratio that 4 1 makes him wiser; and let every 
word of instruction point upward to man's higher 
and holier destiny, for which alone this life is a prep- 
aration. 

Article 2— Conscience. 
The next topic for consideration is Conscience. And 
however diversified and conflicting the opinions are 
in reference to this department of man's moral nature, 
it is universally conceded by all, that man, in his nor- 
mal condition, has a conscience, and that it is subject 
more or less to the influences of education. It is a 
significant fact also, that while conscience is the pecul- 
iar guardian of the sanctity of the soul, it is itself 
subject to some of the most violent abuses, from a 
want of education, or rather from a wrong education. 
It will therefore be seen, that whatever may be its 
ultimate ingredients or nature, as a basis, it is, never- 
theless, subject to great modifications in its manifesta- 
tions, and only acts in proportion to the light received, 
and is always true to its own nature and capacity. 
Taking all things in reference to it, into consideration, 
we are warranted in the assumption, that it rises no 
higher in its decisions than the ideas upon which it is 
predicated. It becomes an infallible guide to right and 
wrong, no further than the light shed upon its path, 
shines from the orb of truth. Therefore, the more 
accurate this light, and the more exalted these ideas 
are, the more exact and exalted will be these decisions. 
God being the highest possible object, therefore, in 
him all ideas of perfection center ; and from him all 
light shines ; and these become, by virtue of this ex- 
altation, the true basis of conscience. Hence again ; 



222 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

the more exalted and correct our views of the Divine 
Being, the more elevated our conscience and conduct. 

Section 1 — Moral Sense. — The ideas of right and 
wrong themselves, seem to originate from this source ; 
and it is not claiming too much for them, when we 
say they derive their peculiar force from these ideas 
of God : though I know, they seem to exist from the 
earliest dawn of intelligence. They would appear, 
therefore, in reference to some of the more direct 
operations of reason, to be almost intuitive : but our 
feeble powers fail, doubtless, to take cognizance of 
all the subtle influences that, we have reason to 
believe, operate to produce these strange results ; so 
that w 7 e shall be safe in concluding that all these 
manifestations are referable, either directly or indi- 
rectly, to the causes named above. And*we might 
add, with equal plausibility, that from the same source 
also, proceed our love for the truth, fidelity, integrity 
and every thing, in fact, that relates to the moral 
sense. And that these can be cultivated, w T e shall 
now proceed to show. For if they can not be taught, 
then must truth be left to wage unequal warfare with 
falsehood, and to struggle against the combined in- 
fluences of false teaching and false doctrine. 

Our ideas of God being the true basis of conscience, 
it might be necessary to inquire how these ideas can 
be brought to as perfect a state as possible. A knowl- 
edge of the true God is therefore necessary. It will 
not do to believe in any god, nor yet to believe any 
doctrine concerning the true God ; for our moral acts 
partake more or less of our belief, and are affected, to 
a greater or less extent, by it. A corrupt doctrine is 
sure to beget a corrupt life. Wrong theory leads to 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 223 

wrong practice. Believing a thing will never make 
that thing true ; and universally, the greater the error 
in belief, the greater the crime of believing it; and 
hence the more disastrous the consequences following 
such a belief. 

^Now, that our belief, so far at least as doctrine is 
concerned, is almost without exception, the product 
of education, is proved by the fact that children, who 
have received any parental instruction at all, adopt 
the belief of their parents ; and though they may 
change that belief in subsequent life, yet relics of it 
will remain ; frequently too to the torment of the 
believer. A belief in ghost stories and hobgoblins, 
early contracted, is an example of this. Aj; lin : 
the child often receives wrong impressions of God, 
both from bad precept and bad example. Our parents 
and teachers teach such low, human ideas of God, 
that he comes to be regarded by the child, scarcely 
above a human being, and hence the attachment rises 
no higher than the human standard. It is compara- 
tively weak. Some err perhaps as much in an opposite 
direction, by teaching that God is so much a God that 
he never meddles with human affairs, but regards man 
and all his actions with a stoical indifference. Hence 
there can be no ready attachment ; for an object to 
be loved must not be a myth, but a reality, and must 
possess lovely attributes. One teaches that God is all 
mercy and forgiveness, without considering his attri- 
butes of wisdom and justice; another that he is all 
inflexible sternness and vengeance, according, usually, 
to the predominance of the sentiment of love or fear 
in the mind of the teacher. This results, on the one 
hand, in an undue indulgence and a careless indif- 
ference, as to obedience; and on the other hand, in a 



224 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

harrowing dread of the vengeance of God, which, 
unaccompanied by love or mercy, must produce a 
secret aversion in the mind of the child, and a desire 
to be free from such slavish restraint. 

low the truth is doubtless found in neither of' 
these extremes, but in the happy blending of both into 
that harmonious character which is both the wonder 
and admiration of angels and men. The child should 
be taught to fear as well as to love; but it should not be 
a slavish fear. He should fear to offend as a ground 
of willing obedience ; he should love to obey as the 
best possible means to promote a healthy fear : and 
both these sentiments, in their interchangeable rela- 
tions, should, as far as possible, be induced without 
extraneous force. The child should be taught to love 
the right, for right's sake, and not for pecuniary re- 
ward ; and to abhor the wrung for its own inherent 
wrongness. He should be taught to love the truth for 
truth's sake, and to hate a lie for its native deformity. 
He should be taught to be honest, not because it is 
the best policy, but because honesty and uprightness 
are excellencies far above reward ; notwithstanding 
they carry with them their own reward. 

But in all this teaching, it will not be necessary to 
attempt to conceal the rewards by any artifice, much 
less should they be held up as motives to induce 
action, but only as the inevitable result. The child 
therefore should be taught to do right, to love the 
truth, to be honest and to worship God from principle, 
and not alone from impulse, let the consequences antic- 
ipated be what they may. Such teaching can be 
done in every famil}^ and every school, by simply taking 
advantage of the common occurrences and every-day 
circumstances connected with other duties. 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 225 

Section 2 — Moral Duties. — It will not be necessary 
to enter into a discussion upon this topic, since the 
nature and bearing of moral duties have already been 
alluded to ; and, were it not that their connection with 
the conscience should be pointed out, they would not 
be referred to again. 

1. Those relating to the family and social compact 
are prominent, and constitute the basis of all the rest. 
If these are observed, if the child is taught not to 
violate his own conscience in reference to the social 
ties, he will be more likely to regard it as sacred, when 
he comes to operate in a wider sphere. 

2. The next class of duties of a purely moral nature, 
are those that relate to country, laws and institutions. 
This arrangement is in keeping w r ith the natural order 
of the development of the affections; and it will be found 
that these affections, under a right system of education, 
will exactly keep pace in development, with the de- 
mands made upon them. 

3. The next relate to mankind in general, and will 
be found to be no more nor less than a generalization, 
and a little different application, of those existing in 
the family and the school. 

Now any violations in the antecedent relations of 
any of these duties, will only pave the way for a more 
extensive depredation in subsequent relations. For 
instance, if it is esteemed a light thing to infringe the 
rights of conscience in the family and in the school, 
such infringement will be comparatively easy when 
applied to society and country ; and if with these, then 
with nations and with the world ; and hence wars and 
national difficulties. 

Now we submit this question for candid considera- 
tion, viz. : Suppose that all these antecedent relations 



226 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

were guarded carefully, and every infringement antic- 
ipated and apprehended; and suppose honesty and 
uprightness in their largest and most critical sense 
were taught and enforced as carefully and as rigidly 
as the rules in grammar and arithmetic are, would not 
the wars and contentions among nations, as well as the 
petty differences that arise among neighborhoods and 
individuals, cease, or at least be very much circum- 
scribed? Would it not hasten the long-looked-for 
Millenium, as much as all the theorizing of theologians 
upon this subject?. 

Again: the little deceptions and hypocrisies which 
so often escape the eyes of the teacher or parent, and 
which are sometimes practiced by teachers and parents 
themselves, are the very beginnings of depravity of a 
monstrous growth, that develops itself in later years in 
the form of thefts, fraud, murders and similar crimes. 
How much better " to nip these things in the bud " than 
to allow them to attain their full growth. But with 
this brief allusion, we leave this part of the subject to 
notice, lastly, under this division : 

Section 3 — Eeligious Duties. — These have also 
been discussed to some extent, and will therefore claim 
but a brief notice here. 

Unless Religion becomes a matter of conscience, and 
not merely of convenience and commerce, its genuine- 
ness and existence are of doubtful standing, to say the 
least. The duties she imposes have a higher claim 
upon our attention, than a mere matter of policy. 
The discharge or neglect of them will affect the con- 
science either for good or for evil. 

These duties may be enumerated under the follow- 
ing heads, viz. : 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 227 

.1. Those that relate to public and private worship, 
including secret devotion, reflection and self-exami- 
nation. And here it may not be amiss to remark, 
that there should be a portion of each day set apart to 
these duties, thus rendering them periodical ; for any 
exercise to be profitable must be thus. But he who 
attends to none but periodic duties, will seldom grow 
in the Christian life; while he who does not attend to 
such, will soon lose ail life. Hence there is necessity 
for both. 

2. There is another class which relates more par- 
ticularly to the religious obligations we owe to our 
neighbor. " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," 
is no less a command than "Thou shalt not kill;" and so 
far from its being a mere moral obligation, it is easy to 
understand that a man may be strictly moral, in the 
light of the human law, and yet be entirely indifferent 
as to the claims of this command. Again, we are 
commanded " to love our enemies, to bless them that 
curse us, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray 
for them that dispitefully use us, and persecute us :" 
all of which demands are more than the merely 
moral man can do, for it clearly presupposes a heart 
deeply imbued with the principles of piety. 

3. There is still another class of religious duties, 
which seem to be somewhat distinct from those de- 
scribed above, viz., those that relate to the poor and 
unfortunate. The nature of this obligation is briefly 
summed up in the 27th verse of the first chapter of 
James, quoted in another place. 

Kow, whatever may be the tone of public sentiment 
upon these subjects, it is nevertheless certain that they 
embrace the great mass of the principles and duties 
of Christianity, and that their inculcation and practice 



228 ■ THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

will, to a great extent, depend upon the vigilance and 
fidelity with which they are taught in our schools 
and in our families. They must not be left to chance 
or the uncertain influences of the world. That policy 
would not be regarded as sound, which would leave 
the intellectual training to so uncertain influences. 
Well, the moral nature of man is not less subject to 
control. "He that soweth to the flesh, shall of the 
flesh reap corruption : but he that soweth to the spirit, 
shall, of the spirit, reap life everlasting." 

Article 3— Tfee Will. 

The nature and offices of the "Will, as a motive 
power, are so intricate and diversified, that its strict, 
analysis will not be attempted here. Its general char- 
acteristics are so well known, as to render such an 
analysis useless. Nevertheless, its relations, to the 
thinking principle, and its influence as a moral force 
npon the actions of men, are such as to render its 
cultivation, at once, an object of great solicitude. 
. Perhaps as clear an idea of the office of the will can 
be gathered from the following extract,* as from any 
other source. " It is the monarch of the mind, ruling 
with despotic, and at times with tyrannical powers. It 
is the rudder of the mind, giving direction to its move- 
ments. It is the engineer giving course and point, 
speed and force, to the mental machinery. It acts like 
a tonic among the soul's languid powers. It is the 
band that ties into a strong bundle the separate 
faculties of the soul. It is the man's momentum: in 
a word, it is that power by which the energy or ener- 
gies of the soul are concentrated on a given point, or 



* "The Will as an Educational Power," by Rev. J. B. Bittenger. 



MORAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 229 

in a particular direction : it fuses the faculties into one 
mass, so that instead of scattering all over like grape 
and canister, they spend their united force on one 
point." 

But it will be sufficient for our purpose to consider 
its several functions under the following heads : 1. 
Motives and purposes. 2. Intentions and choice. 3. 
Executive volitions. We shall content ourselves with 
pointing out some of its prominent characteristics, in 
connection with some modes of culture. 

It will readily he seen that the operations of the will 
are intimately allied to, and somewhat dependent 
upon the action of other mental powers; that while it 
is itself the motive power, it awaits, in its executions, 
the light of the understanding and judgment, itself 
moving these powers to action, at the same time that 
it is dependent upon them for the light that guides it. 
It is, in one word, that power which the whole mind, 
as a unit, has to direct its own energies, bringing all 
the powers under its control, and making the body, as 
well, its special servant. Viewed in this light, the 
mind itself, according to the author just quoted, as- 
sumes the following threefold functional classification. 
" The intellect is the legislative department, the 
sensibilities are the judicial, and the will the execu- 
tive." But it will be necessary to understand this with 
some latitude ; for it may not be easy to see how the 
sensibilities, for instance, aid the understanding and 
judgment, the two faculties most concerned in forming 
conclusions. Viewed in its automatic relations, how- 
ever, the will is the blind Samson of the mind, which 
must needs have other eyes to guide it ; or else like 
him, it knows not where to exert its strength. It is 
like him in another essential respect. When it tamely 



230 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

and basely surrenders its power to appetite or passion, 
it is soon shorn, like Samson in Delila's lap, of its 
locks of strength, and then like him again, it becomes 
itself the slave, bound hand and foot, powerless to 
remonstrate successfully, against the imperious de- 
mands of the passions. 

How important, therefore, that the will be educated, 
and that the perception, understanding, judgment, 
imagination and memory, the natural eyes of this 
faculty of the mind, be trained with reference to their 
psychological relations to the Will ! 

Section 1 — Motives and Purposes. — No intelligent 
act, however trifling, is ever performed without a mo- 
tive or a purpose. These do not constitute the ener- 
gizing principles of the will, nor yet are they the food : 
they only serve as the occasion for action. And the 
more exalted and intelligent these motives and pur- 
poses are, the more definite and determined become 
the operations of the will. Hence, instruction in mat- 
ters of right and wro?ig, at least, becomes a necessity in 
order to secure an intelligent and harmonious action. 
This need not be different, at least in manner, from 
ordinary instruction. It would comport perhaps with 
"moral suasion," and thus afford the necessary light 
to the executive functions. 

There must also exist a desire to promote the right and 
the general welfare. This will be induced in right in- 
struction, and will thus become not a mere blind im- 
pulsive distemper of the mind, but a noble sentiment 
characterized by intelligence and wisdom. But in 
order best to promote right motives and right pur- 
poses, especially in the youthful mind, it is necessary 
to induce a trust or faith in the rectitude of a Higher 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 231 

Power. Here seems to he the very point, most acces- 
sible to the teacher, and upon which he should seize, 
in order that he may become master of the will. Chil- 
dren are themselves dependent. Parents or instructors 
are usually the objects in which such dependence cen- 
ters. The main object, therefore, is to so mold and 
fashion these motives, etc., as that they shall superin- 
duce the proper volitions. This will apply to the in- 
tellectual culture as well as to the moral. But the 
modes of culture, as far as they relate to the motive 
power of the will, in directing the application of the 
intellectual faculties, will be noticed in the Art of 
Teaching, under the topic of " Modes of Study." 

Section 2 — Intentions and Choice. — No sooner are 
motives judiciously placed before the mind, and the 
proper desires and confidence inspired, than it at once 
sets about forming intentions which, under the influ- 
ence of the reasoning and judging powers, soon ripen 
into determinations and well-defined choice, one of 
the primary functions of the will. These may exist 
at first in the shape of half-formed purposes of action, 
and may be weak or strong, according as the cast of 
mind varies and as the motives have been feeble or 
powerful. In a mind uncultivated and unused to 
grapple with the difficulties of contending interests 
and forces, the great danger will be that the will will 
be tempted to yield those determinations or resolutions 
without making the necessary effort to maintain them. 
Hence, such a will needs encouragement and strength- 
ening by every laudable inducement that can be placed 
before it. Nothing is more disastrous to the will than 
the habit of forming, or rather half forming resolu- 
tions and then breaking them. It soon refuses to give 



232 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

heed to the calls of those premature and irresolute 
determinations, and grows weaker and weaker at every 
successive attempt and failure, until finally it ceases to 
act at all ; and the intentions fall to the ground as fast 
as they are formed. The moral effects of this prac- 
tice are ruinous. See to it then, that no resolutions 
are formed, whose fulfillment will be doubtful, and that 
those which are formed are carried out at almost any 
sacrifice. 

It often becomes necessary however to interpose 
authority : and here the will should be taught to bend 
to a higher power. Stubbornness and willfulness are 
as much to be deprecated as feebleness and vascilla- 
tion. Obedience to law should be a cardinal point in 
all instruction, since a willing submission to properly 
constituted authority, is as essentially a noble act of 
will, as resistance to tyranny and oppression. 

Another mode of cultivating the will, as a moral 
force, should not be overlooked, viz., the submission to 
suffering and privation. Nothing, perhaps, has a hap- 
pier effect upon the human heart than the lessons 
affliction and suffering teach, provided we show proper 
submission. To rebel against these has the opposite 
effect. It creates a petulance that very much aggra- 
vates our difficulties. To bear the ills of life patiently, 
is one of the noblest virtues; and one, too, that re- 
quires as vigorous an exercise of will, as to resist the 
encroachments of wrong. The virtue of endurance is 
nearly allied to that of perseverance. Children should 
be taught to bear the yoke in their youth. 

Section 3 — Executive Volitions. — We come now 
to consider the will in that sphere of action where 
it exhibits some of its strongest characteristics, viz., 



MORAL, SOCIAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE. 233 

its volitions. These constitute its executive force, and 
are the great motors in all the operations of mind and 
body. To regulate these forces would seem to be one 
of the first objects of education. Some possess this 
power in a very feeble state, while others are gifted 
with more than would appear to be necessary for ordi- 
nary purposes. Hence, there is a necessity for both 
restraints and stimulants. These of course should be 
administered judiciously. It will not answer for us to 
interpose our restraints or stimulants too freely, where 
the voluntary volitions act in reference to opinions and 
belief. While it might, in general, be denominated 
direction and control by superior force, it would imply 
of course, nothing more than the regulating influence 
which a wise teacher would throw around his pupil. 

But one of the most powerful educators of executive 
volitions, is the actual encounter with difficulties and 
temptations. The will, or executive volitions of the 
child, can no more be cultivated while the teacher or 
parent studiously avoids bringing him into actual con- 
tact with trials, than can his mathematical powers 
be developed without calculation. The child will no 
more become a strong, determined man, under these 
circumstances, than he would become a good soldier 
while he was always kept out of danger. But to cul- 
tivate this power, he must enter the field and engage 
in the actual conflict with difficulties. He must grap- 
ple, single-handed, with trials and hardship. He must 
meet temptation face to face, and conquer his own de- 
sires to sin, if he would realize all the glory of a 
conquest. 

This brings us to notice energy and perseverance in 
duty, the last topic which we shall attempt here, and 
the crowning excellence of a. well regulated mind. 
20 



234 THE SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 

The necessities for these virtues are sufficiently obvious, 
as their opposites, irresolution and indolence, are noto- 
rious. To cultivate these virtues requires care and 
patience. It should be commenced early in life, and 
continued gradually until the habit is established. 
Nothing should be demanded which can not be per- 
formed ; and nothing that is attempted, should be 
abandoned unperformed. It may require encourage- 
ment and even absolute authority, as incentives ; but 
the energies should never know they could yield ex- 
cept to impossibilities. That which seems difficult 
will thus often prove easy ; and the list of impos- 
sibilities will be reduced to a mere " shadow/' pro- 
vided the energies of a living soul are aroused and 
arrayed against them by an indomitable will. 

For further and particular modes of culture of this 
department of man's nature, the reader is referred to 
modes of study, recitation and government, as de- 
scribed in the Art of Teaching. 



Eclectic Educational Series. 

Bartholomew's Latin Series, 

BY G. K. BARTHOLOMEW, A. M. 

Bartholomew's Latin Grammar. 
Bartholomew's Graded Lessons in Latin. 
Bartholomew's Caesar. 

The principles and laws of the Latin Language, as established by 
the standard authorities, and illuminated by the most recent discoveries 
of comparative philology, arranged in a concise and teachable form. 

The treatment of the subject of Latin Gramniar in this nezo series 
is a departure from the old methods in some important respects, to 
which attention is urgently invited. 

It has been the almost unanimous judgment of 'the many experienced 
instructors who have examined and are using Bartholomew's Latin 
SerieS, that the changes from the old forms, and the omission of a 
vast amount of superfluous matter are decided improve??ients ; that the 
author has greatly simplified the labor of both teacher and student; and 
that he has presented the subject in more inviting form than has pre- 
vailed in the text-books heretofore in use. 



Dartmouth College — Prof. E. D. Sanborn says: 

"Bartholomew's Latin Grammar exhibits extensive research, 
critical analysis, and judicious arrangement. The doctrine of the 
subjunctive mode, the most difficult topic in Latin Grammar, is 
treated with marked ability. 

" The Caesar shows many of the same excellences — thorough 
scholarship, and accurate translations. It is all that the young 
student needs for a just appreciation of the Gallic "War." 

Amherst College — Prof. W. S. Tyler : 

"Among the features that please me, I may specify the nat- 
ural order of arrangement and scientific treatment of subjects; 
the unusually full and careful analysis and derivation of words; 
the principles and practice of analyzing sentences; the excellent 
manner in which the modes and tenses are handled, particularly 
the subjunctive mode ; and the pains taken to bring the Gram- 
mar up to the present state of the science of language." 

University of Michigan — Prof. H. S. Frieze: 

" 1 am exceedingly well pleased with Bartholmew's Caesar: it 
is satisfactory in every respect — in scholarly merit, in adaptation 
to the wants of young students in Latin, and in typographical ex- 
ecution. I have been much pleased also with the Latin Grammar." 

VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & CO., CINCINNATI AND NEW YORK. 



Eclecti c Educational Series. 

Harvey's Readers and Spellers. 

By THOMAS W. HARVEY, A. M. 



Kalamazoo College, Mich. 
" The plan of Harvey's Readers is a good one, and the execution of the plan 
is successful. The selections are adapted to children of the age for which they 
are intended, and have a healthful moral tone. ... I ought to congratulate 
you on the fact that your school-books generally are so beautiful as specimens of 
mechanical art, pleasing to the eye, and making study easy and delightful " 

Rev. Kendall Brooks, LL.D., President. 

Md. State Normal ', Baltimore. 
" Let me put my opinion of them in a nutshell : Paper good ; binding suffi- 
cient; type large and clear; illustrations appropriate and well executed ; matter 
interesting and level to the comprehension of the pupils ; gradation easy ; — alto- 
gether a first-class series.'' M. A. Newell, Principal. 

State Normal School, Fredonia, N. Y. 
" Having glanced over the series my impressions are : — 
i. That the printer's department has been tastefully and effectively executed. 

2. The illustrations are well devised and well drawn. 

3. The selection and arrangement of the matter betoken the hand of one 
acquainted with the wants of the different classes of pupils in graded schools." 

Jno. W. Armstrong, D. D., Principal. 

College of William and Mary. 
"The very best series I know. The text is above criticism, and the illustra- 
tions are the finest and the most suitable for cultivating and refining the taste of 
the pupil I ever saw." Benj. S. Ewell, President. 

Springfield, Mass. 
" . . . . Mr. Harvey is the man of all others to do this work. Hi? 
strong practical sense and comprehension of the problem of education to the 
great multitude who can afford but six or seven years at school, qualify him to 
make a Reading book and a Speller for the masses. He has succeeded admirably 
in making such a series of books. The school-boy 'who runs may read' in these 
Readers— so beautiful in print and illustrations; so simple and progressive in 
their selections ; so humane and elevating in their tendency.'' 

Rev. A. D. Mayo. 

Chicago. 
"To me Harvey's Series seems to be perfection. He has gathered up the 
virtues that have been evolved out of the experience of the last years so fruitful 
in experiment, and has condensed them into these books. 

" The days that improve the sewing machine and the reaper so rapidly, im- 
prove the school-book as well. . . . Harvey's Readers show the progress of 
the teaching art. As there are now four great professions, and as that of the 
teacher is perhaps the most influential, it must have the benefit of new instruments." 

Rev. David Swing. 

University of New York. 
" Harvey's Graded-School Readers seems to me to have all the elements of 
attractiveness and efficiency . The gradation appears to be very carefully pre- 
pared, and the appeal to the pupil's appetite is very successful.'' 

Rev. Howard Crosby, LL.D., Chancellor. 

Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., Cincinnati and New York. 



Eclectic Educational Series. 

Composition and Object Lessons. 

Things Taught : Systematic Instruction in Composition and 
Object Lessons. By Dr. M. E. LILIENTHAL and ROBERT 
ALLYN, M. D. Prepared by order of the Cincinnati Public School 
Board. i6mo, 96 pp. 

This little volume differs widely from the usual text-books. It 
is a book of questions without answers. It does not address itself 
to the memory alone, but to all the faculties of the pupil's mind. 
Compiled after the most successful works used in the Old World. 



CONTENTS. 



Development of Ideas by Observation : 

Names of things — Materials — Colors — Numbers — Qualities — 
Action — Manner of Action — Time of Action. 
Development of Ideas by Observation and Reflection. 

Classification of Things — Parts — Materials — Qualities — Action 
— Uses — Direction — Forms — Comparison — Means and Ends — Mo- 
tives and Consequences — Cause and Effect. 
Stories to be Written from Memory. 
Transformation of Poetry into Prose. 
Stories to be made from Elements. 
Letters, upon topics and events suggested. 
Description of Natural Bodies: 

Of the Animal Kingdom — Quadrupeds — Birds — Reptiles — 
Fishes — Insects : Of the Vegetable Kingdom — Trees — Flowers 
— Grasses; Of the Mineral Kingdom; Natural Phenomena; Of 
Artificial Bodies and Trades. 
Themes for Composition. 
Business Papers : 

Bills of Purchase; Receipts; Promissory Notes; Orders; Drafts, 

Advertisements : 

Lost and Found ; Stolen ; Rent ; Wanted ; For Sale ; Died. 
Miscellaneous. 

Van Antwerp, Bragg &» Co., Cincinnati and new York. 



Eclectic Educational Serifs. 
ANDREWS'S 

Elementary Geology 

An Elementary Geology. Designed especially for the 
Interior States, iarao., cloth, 283 pp. 

By E. B. ANDREWS, LL.D. 

432 New and Attractive Illustrations. 

The distinctive feature of Andrews's Elementary 
Geology is its limitations. It is designed for students 
and readers of the Interior States, and for such has its 
chief references to home geology. The simplicity and 
regularity of the geological formations in these States 
render them singularly fitted to be illustrations of the 
science, and, moreover, the formations are rich in fossils 
beyond those of most other parts of the world. By thus 
limiting the scope of the work, it is believed that a much 
better book for beginners has been made than if far more 
had been attempted. 

The order of rocks is fully given; and the more im- 
portant facts in the economical geology are given, in view 
of the large areas of coal-fields, the iron, copper, lead 
and zinc mines in the Interior States. 

Of the four hundred and thirty-two illustrations prob- 
ably three-fourths have never appeared in any text-book 
before. They have been selected from official Geologi- 
cal Reports and from similar sources of the highest 
scientific authority. A very considerable number of 
them are entirely new, having been drawn by the author 
or under his immediate supervision. 

Andrews's Geology will be found useful not only to stu- 
dents, as a text-book, but to all persons who desire to read 
intelligently the several State Geological Reports ; to such 
persons it will serve as a si??tple, cheap manual and the only 
explanatory work of the kind published. 

Van Antwerp, Bragg &> Co., Cincinnati and new York. 



Eclectic Series— Natural Sciences. 



Norton's Chemistry, 



The miemervts of CTzemzstrz/j 

BY SIDNEY A. NORTON, A.M., M.D. 
12mo., cloth, SOO pages. 

This work is intended as a text-book, not as a manual for 
reference. The author has endeavored to seiect such chemical 
phenomena as represent the cardinal principles of the science, 
giving preference to those which are easily reproduced by the 
student, and which enter into the affairs of common life. To 
attain this end, he has omitted many excellent experiments which 
require the use of expensive apparatus, and has substituted others 
which, if less "classical," are of easier application. 

The engravings represent well-fashioned apparatus; but no one 
ought to be deterred from attempting an experiment because he 
has not the exact shaped figure. Any drug-store or kitchen will 
ifford bottles and tumblers, which may be used in place of flasks 
and beakers. In some way, the experiments ought to be tried. 

As regards nomenclature, the author has followed the excellent 
example of Dr, Odling, viz, to use those names which have 
become a part of our language with as little change as possible, 
and the newer names for those substances which concern chemists 
only. 

As regards notation, it must be born in mind that all formulae 
are alike subject to change. No greater mistake can be made 
than that any formula (except a binary) tells the whole truth 
about a molecule, or that any formula which correctly represents 
the percentage composition of a substance may not be, at times, 
available in fixing in the mind of the student the fact to be re- 
membered. The author has, therefore, used the formula that ap- 
peared convenient at the time; and feels that an experience of 
twenty years' teaching warrants him in advising his fellow-teach- 
ers not to attempt to place theory above practice. The use of 
theory is to enable one to generalize known facts and predict new 
ones ; the business of teaching is to enable the student to master 
facts, principles, and laws already ascertained and established. 
By the same author: 

Norton's Natural Philosophy. 
Norton's Elements o± Physios. 

Van Antwerp, Bragg &» Co., Cincinnati and New York. 



Eclectic Educational Series. 

Hepburn's Rhetoric, 

A Manual of English (Rhetoric, byA.(D. HE(P(BURN ; 
(Professor in (Davidson College, J\f. C. 

Designed to meet the wants of classes in High* Schools 
and Colleges. The principles of pure English Rhetoric 
are stated briefly and exemplified ; the instructor can ex- 
pand, modify, and apply them according to the require- 
ments of his classes. Adapted to instruction by Sections 
or by Topics. 121110., 288 pp. 

CONTENTS. 

Introduction. — Definition, Aim and Method of Study, 
and Distribution of Rhetoric. 

Part I. The Processes Conversant About the Mat- 
ter of a Discourse. — Chapter I: The Subject of 
a Discourse. Chap. II : Invention. Chap. Ill : 
Disposition. Chap. IV : Amplification. 

Part II. Style. — Chap. I: Qualities of Prose Style. 
Chap. II : Choice of Words. Chap. Ill : Figures 
of Speech. Chap. IV : The Sentence. Chap. V : 
The Paragraph. Chap. VI : Division of style. 

Part III. The Elementary Forms of Discourse. — 
Chap. I: Description. Chap. II: Narration. Chap. 
Ill : Exposition. Chap. IV : Argument. 

Part IV. The Principal Forms of Prose. — Chap. 
I : The Dialogue and Epistolary Prose. Chap. II : 
Didactic Prose. Chap. Ill : Historical Prose. Chap. 
IV : Oratorical Prose. 

Van Antwerp, Bragg <s^ Co., Cincinnati and new York. 



